UNESCO adds 26 new World Heritage Sites, removes 3 from Danger list

A week of landmark decisions here in the French capital with the focus firmly on cultural and historical significance. China had a huge win with its only nomination, the Sissier Imperial Tombs in the country's northwest approved, drawing cheers and celebrations from the Chinese delegation at the event. Adopted. With the UNESCO committee praising the site's representation of Silk Road cultural exchanges, acknowledging China's holistic and systematic conservation efforts. The National Cultural Heritage Administration will continue to work closely with Ningxia to implement the resolutions of the World Heritage Committee, faithfully fulfill the obligations under the World Heritage Convention, and protect this cultural treasure of all humankind. Meanwhile, France, which hosted this year's event, had both its entries inscribed. These being the megaliths of Carnac near Brittany in the northwest of the country, which features more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones, the largest such collection in the world, and the banks of the Morbihan. The announcement was celebrated to the sound of the baguette, a typically Breton musical ensemble. And this is like, you know, the Great Wall of China for us. And what is also very touching is that France has 53 World Heritage Labels, and there were none of them in Brittany, my region, and you know, Britain people are very, very proud of their culture, their music, their food. So it's a kind of revenge to have this now, this label in Brittany, and I think all the Britain people are very, very proud, and so am I, of course. And in a move being seen as another win for the UNESCO Committee in Paris. Three properties in Africa, Libya, Madagascar and Egypt, have been removed from the list of World Heritage in Danger, with threats to these special sites significantly reduced. Sarah Coates, CGTN, Paris. Right, well for more on this subject, we can now bring in Waleed El Batoutif, who is the former advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities. He joins us live from Cairo this hour. Waleed, thank you for joining us. What do you make of the new list of heritage sites which have been agreed at the UNESCO Summit in Paris? Well, we're very happy that, you know, there is still attention that is given, and you know, with all the situation that is going around the world, and there is still attention to the World Heritage, because it's very important. Those who don't have history, they don't have future. So the Egyptian government over here is not sparing an effort, not to do any conservation to any of the sites that we have, and we, as you know, that we do have a lot in Egypt that also should be considered under the World Heritage. Right, and we do know that this is a significant development for the African continent, but we do also know that some African sites have been removed from the previous list of endangered sites. What more can you tell us there? Well, I can talk about what happened in Egypt, because the Egyptian government spent so much money on, there was the, in Malawi, in Armenia, there was the monastery over there, and what happened is the underwater, the underground water was endangering the site, and the Egyptian government put so much effort to pump this out and to work very hard and pay attention to that area quickly to save it and preserve it. The point is, we preserve these things, not, to be honest with you, not just for Egypt. We preserve these places for the world. This is world heritage. It belongs to the whole world. It belongs to the future. It belongs to your great-great-grandkids. So that's what Egypt is really considering. The policy in Egypt has been looking towards these things in that aspect, in that way.