The 44th UNESCO World Heritage Conference will open in Fuzhou, Fujian Province on July 16.
After the opening ceremony, the conference will be held online. This is the first time in the history of UNESCO to review World Heritage issues online.
On July 14, the flowerbed in front of the Fuzhou Strait International Convention and Exhibition Center, the main venue of the 44th World Heritage Convention.
The 44th UNESCO World Heritage Conference will open on the 16th in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Bin
What are the highlights of this World Heritage Conference?
What to focus on?
A reporter from Chinanews.com sorted out the following four key points for you.
Can Quanzhou pass its second application? Cautiously optimistic
This World Heritage Conference will review the project declared by China-"Quanzhou: China's World Maritime Trade Center in Song and Yuan Dynasties", which has been inscribed for the second time.
In 2018, China failed to declare the "historical site of ancient Quanzhou (Erythrina)".
In June of the same year, at the 42nd World Heritage Conference held in Bahrain, the World Heritage Committee's review of the Quanzhou project was a "submission (return pending)".
Chiding Island Lighthouse in Quanzhou.
Photo by Pang Hao Yan
At the beginning of 2019, the Quanzhou project was determined to be the only declared project in China in 2020.
The declared name of the project was changed to "Quanzhou: Song and Yuan China's World Ocean Trade Center", and 6 new heritage sites were added on the original basis.
In the new project, 22 heritage sites have been refined and classified.
On July 14, the exterior view of the Fuzhou Strait International Convention and Exhibition Center, the main venue of the 44th World Heritage Convention.
The 44th UNESCO World Heritage Conference will open on the 16th in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Bin
In 2020, a new crown epidemic broke out all over the world. The 44th World Heritage Convention originally scheduled to be held in Fuzhou was postponed to this year, and all projects that year were also postponed to this year for deliberation.
Zhang Lei, the head of the World Cultural Heritage Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, commented that the "Quanzhou: Song and Yuan China's World Ocean Trade Center" declared this time has a clearer theme and a clearer and more complete value description. The heritage sites have increased from 16 to 22. The connotation of the heritage is further enriched, and the overall quality of the declared project has been significantly improved.
He is cautiously optimistic about the results of the deliberations of this conference.
How are online international conferences held? Contribute Chinese wisdom
This is the second time that China has hosted the World Heritage Conference, and it is also the highest-level international conference hosted in the field of world heritage protection.
Affected by the epidemic, the current World Heritage Conference will be an extended meeting. From July 16 to July 31, the two annual World Heritage projects in 2020 and 2021 will be reviewed, including 45 items on the World Heritage List. 》Pending projects and 258 World Heritage protection status reports, it is expected that the “World Heritage List” and other lists will have important updates.
Data map: "Gulangyu Island: A Historical International Community" was successfully included in the "World Heritage List" on July 8, 2017. The main body of the heritage is located at the mouth of the Jiulong River in Xiamen City. It is an island with an area of only 1.88 square kilometers.
Photo by Wang Dongming
Judging from the agenda of the World Heritage Conference learned by the reporter, in order to coordinate the time difference between countries in different regions of the world, the daily meeting time is only 4 hours, usually from 17:30 to 21:30 Beijing time. The meeting is long and online. Short, how to effectively conduct deliberation is a difficult problem for everyone in the conference.
Tian Xuejun, Director of the Chinese National Committee of UNESCO, Director of the Office of the Preparatory Committee for the 44th World Heritage Conference, and Chairman of the 44th World Heritage Conference, said that a series of operational norms for online review of world heritage projects established and used by this conference will become An important reference for the combination of online and offline work in the world heritage field in the post-epidemic phase.
Will Australia's Great Barrier Reef be listed as endangered?
The 44th World Heritage Conference recommended that Australia's Great Barrier Reef be included in the "List of World Heritage in Danger", which will be reviewed at the meeting.
Data map: According to the British "Guardian" report on April 8, 2020, the third large-scale bleaching incident occurred on the Great Barrier Reef in five years. Australian scientists said that this is a signal that the Great Barrier Reef, an oceanic miracle, is "calling for urgent assistance". , Calling on people to take action to deal with climate change.
In recent years, the marine life and ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef has declined at an unprecedented rate and scale.
Although Australia has made efforts to implement its long-term sustainable development plan for the "Coral Reef 2050", the impact of climate change, including a series of coral bleaching events in 2016, 2017 and 2020, has caused great damage to the heritage site.
In addition, the cumulative effect of multiple threats, such as the deterioration of water quality, is reducing the resilience of coral reefs to increasing pressure.
Based on this, the World Heritage Committee's professional advisory body in the field of natural heritage-the World Conservation Union (IUCN) recommended that it be included in the Endangered List, in order to urgently redouble its efforts at the global level to protect the Great Barrier Reef.
In fact, other places that were also recommended to be included in the Endangered List at this World Heritage Conference include Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, and Budapest in Hungary.
The deliberation of these items is expected to arouse fierce controversy.
The old house in Fuzhou, where the conference is held, retains homesickness
As the venue of the conference, Fuzhou has many attractions, such as the ancient house.
The oil-paper umbrella, one of the "Three Treasures of Fuzhou", makes Sanfang Qixiang more antique.
Photo by Zhang Bin
In recent years, Fuzhou has continued to carry out global and continuous protection and restoration of the city’s cultural heritage, successively repairing more than 180 key cultural relics, more than 1,300 ancient and historical buildings, creating 17 characteristic historical and cultural blocks, and protecting and renovating 261 traditional old buildings. The streets and lanes not only maintain the context, but also retain the homesickness.
Nowadays, the old house in Fuzhou, which is connected to Daiwa, has been activated and utilized on the basis of the protection and repair principle of “minimal intervention”, integrated into cultural services, leisure and tourism and other functions, so that the old house will be rejuvenated and become a taste of history and experience for the masses. Folklore, a good place to recall homesickness.
The picture shows the Zhenhai Tower, a landmark building in Fuzhou.
The Fuzhou Ancient House Exhibition Hall is located in Zhenhai Building.
Photo by Zhang Bin
Among them, the three lanes and seven alleys in downtown Fuzhou are the most representative lane buildings.
As the business card of Fuzhou Old House, the white walls and gray tiles and the Gurong alleys here have become the place for tourists to check in.
It is worth mentioning that the pattern of the emblem of the 44th World Heritage Convention, like a traditional Chinese painting, is displayed with the beautiful lines of the ancient house in Fujian. The ancient house is like auspicious clouds inlaid in the Fushan Fushui, implying nature and harmony. The cultural heritage is perfectly inherited and protected.
Reporter: Ying Ni