Namib Sand Sea in Namibia, Xinjiang Tianshan in China, Tajik National Park in Tajikistan, Mount Etna in Italy, and El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, have been declared World Heritage sites, following the expert recommendations of IUCN.
In addition, the World Heritage Committee approved the extension of Mount Kenya National Park to include the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Ngare Ndare Forest Reserve, also recommended by IUCN.
“From vast deserts in Namibia and Mexico to high mountain ranges in China and Tajikistan and a volcano in Italy, the new World Heritage Sites are a celebration of the beauty of nature and our joint commitment to conserve it for generations to come,” says Tim Badman, Director of IUCN World Heritage Programme, according to a IUCN press release issued Friday.
“We congratulate the States Parties for their hard work to make this possible and the World Heritage Committee for applying the high standards that it has set itself.”
The Namib Sand Sea — a unique coastal fog desert with a diverse range of large, shifting dunes – is a place of outstanding natural beauty where atmospheric conditions provide exceptional visibility of the landscape by day and the dazzling southern hemisphere sky at night. It has been long identified as one of the main gaps on the List and is the first site in ten years to be inscribed under all natural World Heritage criteria.
Located in the eastern part of the Tianshan mountain range – which extends across China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan – Xinjiang Tianshan contains a scenically beautiful series of ecosystems, including snow-capped mountains and red bed canyons. The decision was made based on the outstanding scenic values and natural features of the area together with the associated mountain ecosystems within a Central Asian arid continental climate.
