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I Love Parks.com
The Belize Barrier Reef System and Los
Katios National Park in Columbia are the two natural sites added to the List of
World Heritage in Danger, following the advice of IUCN. Composed of seven protected
areas, many small mangrove islands and coastal lagoons, the Belize Barrier Reef
System is home to a number of threatened species, including marine turtles and
the American crocodile. A series of technical
assessments and a joint IUCN/UNESCO monitoring mission to Belize in March 2009
revealed alarming developments such as extensive mangrove cutting and sale of
mangrove islands. The Belize Barrier Reef, the largest in the Northern
Hemisphere, is also the country’s top tourist destination.
“By adding the Belize Barrier Reef to the List of World
Heritage in Danger, the World Heritage Committee is acting to ensure that one of
the world’s most outstanding natural places is being protected and that the
international community is doing its utmost to support Belize in its
conservation efforts,"
says
Tim Badman, Head of the IUCN delegation at the World Heritage Committee meeting.
Los Katios National Park was
added to the World Heritage List in 1994 because of the exceptional diversity of
flora and fauna in the area, consisting of low hills, tropical rainforests and
wetlands. Illegal logging, security concerns, overfishing and potential road
construction are all recognized threats to the outstanding value of the site.
“Los Katios National Park needs a high level of
protection, one that must involve not only the national authorities but the
international community as well," says
Pedro Rosabal, IUCN’s Senior Programme Officer on Protected Areas.
"IUCN commends the State Party for its proposal to put the site on the danger
list. Critical conservation threats call for global action and the danger list
is the mechanism we have at our disposal to help countries protect the world
heritage.”
I Love Parks
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Salazar Moves to Place Everglades National Park Back on List of World Heritage Sites in Danger
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken
Salazar today announced he is taking steps to have Everglades National Park
added again to the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger by the United Nation’s
World Heritage Committee.
The Everglades was hastily removed from the list in 2007 at the request
of the previous Administration without adequate consultations with the National
Park Service, the state of Florida and other stakeholders and without
appropriate measures in place to evaluate the progress of on-going efforts to
restore the South Florida ecosystem, Salazar said.
“The Everglades remains one of our world’s most treasured – and most
threatened – places,” Salazar said at a meeting of the South Florida Ecosystem
Restoration Task Force in the department’s Sydney Yates Auditorium. “The federal
government must once again stand up and meet its responsibilities to Everglades
restoration so that one day, when we achieve restoration, we can remove the park
from the list of sites that in danger. President Obama has already made a major
commitment to Everglades restoration in the budget and through the Recovery Act;
we will stay focused on this high priority for our nation and the world.”
President Obama has increased federal support for Everglades
restoration, the largest watershed restoration project in history.
The Omnibus Appropriation Act for fiscal year 2009, signed by the
President early this year, provides a total of $241 million for Everglades’
projects, including $118 million from the Department of the Interior and $123
million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In addition, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also enacted
earlier this year, provided $119.2 million in stimulus funding for Everglades
work, including $18.6 million for Interior agencies and $100.6 million from the
Army Corps of Engineers.
President Obama’s budget request for 2010 would provide $278 million
for Everglades’ restoration, including $64 million from Interior and $214
million from the Corps. The 2010 budget for Everglades is $37 million above the
2009 enacted level.
“With the President’s strong commitment to restoration, there is hope
for a new day in the Everglades,” Salazar said. “We will work with other
countries to relist the park at the earliest possible time and develop criteria
by which we will be able to determine when that day has arrived and the park can
be legitimately removed from the danger list.”
The 21-nation World Heritage Committee oversees the list of World
Heritage Sites that are of significant cultural or natural importance to the
common heritage of humanity. Sites that are deemed to be in jeopardy are placed
on the danger list.
The committee currently is meeting in Seville, Spain. While it may be
too late to formally get the Everglades relisted at this meeting, Salazar
directed the National Park Service representatives attending to initial
discussions with other delegates.
In 1993, the park was placed on the List of World
Heritage in Danger in 1993 after Hurricane Andrew, based on concerns regarding
the deterioration of the park’s ecological integrity. The list is intended to
focus attention and, thereby, resources of the international community and
encourage action to address those threats, primarily by the concerned.
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