The World Heritage Committee held its 33rd session (22 – 30 June 2009), chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, resulting in the inscription of 13 new sites (2 new natural sites and 11 cultural sites) on the World Heritage List.
Out of 30 sites and seven extensions of existing sites proposed for the List at this year’s meeting, two of the 13 inscribed are African.
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The World Heritage Committee held its 33rd session (22 – 30 June 2009), chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO, resulting in the inscription of 13 new sites (2 new natural sites and 11 cultural sites) on the World Heritage List.
Out of 30 sites and seven extensions of existing sites proposed for the List at this year’s meeting, two of the 13 inscribed are African.
The Ruins of Loropéni in Burkina Faso, the first to be inscribed in the country, are one of these two. Situated 430km south-west from Ouagadougou, the ruins are found near the borders of Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. The 11,130m2 property, with its imposing stone walls is the best preserved of ten fortresses in the Lobi area and is part of a larger group of 100 stone enclosures that bear testimony to the power of the trans-Saharan gold trade. The ruins have recently been shown to be at least 1,000 years old. The settlement was occupied by the Lohron or Koulango peoples, who controlled the extraction and transformation of gold in the region when it reached its apogee from the 14th to the 17th century.
Having already made a first attempt to enter the List in 1994, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee turned down the bid by the Ouagadougou authorities, asking for better documentation about the historic site. Much mystery still surrounds this site large parts of which have yet to be excavated.
The second site inscribed: the town of Cidade Velha (translated as Old City in portuguese) situated in Cape Verde. Until now the archipelago had no site inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, despite its volcanic beauty and long historic settlement imperative to trans-Atlantic trade.
Founded in 1462, shortly after the archipelago was discovered by Portuguese colonisers, the town of Ribeira Grande, renamed Cidade Velha in the late 18th century, was the first European colonial outpost in the tropics. Located in the south of the island of Santiago, the town features some of the original street layout impressive remains including two churches, a royal fortress and Pillory Square with its ornate 16th century marble pillar.
The city developed into a wealthy city, playing a key role in Portugal's important trans-Atlantic trade and connecting Brazil to Europe. But Ribeira Grande also has its dark history, becoming an important trans-shipment point for slaves hunted in Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, transported to Cape Verde and Brazil.
After an attack by French pirates in 1712, it became clear that Ribeira Grande had become difficult to defend. In 1770, the capital was moved to its current location, Praia, and the old town lost importance. Since the late 1990s, Ribeira Grande is uninhabited, but its well-preserved ruins - including a colonial church constructed in 1495 and the 16th century São Filipe fort - make it a popular destinations for Cape Verdeans and tourists, located only 15 kilometres outside Praia.
Given the site's well-documented history and its functional conservation plan, the Cape Verdean authorities hope the qualification on to the Wolrd Heritage List, a list which draws many tourist arrivals, will prove yet another argument for the growing number of visitors to Cape Verde.
African sites make up a total of 45% of the World Heritage in Danger List (14 out of 31 sites - http://whc.unesco.org/en/danger/), yet only made up 10% (3 out of 30 sites) of the Proposals List up for discussion in Seville this year. Finally, 15% (2 out of 13) was represented in the final selection for inscription. A discernible underrepresentation.
