Rome (AFP)

Venice escaped in extremis Thursday its inclusion on the list of World Heritage in Danger, proposed by Unesco shortly before the announcement by Italy of the ban on large cruise ships from entering the heart of the lagoon.

The World Heritage Committee meeting in Fuzhou, China, took note of this ban which will come into force on August 1st.

It gives the Italian authorities until December 1, 2022 to report again on the efforts made to preserve the exceptional ecosystem and historical heritage of the Serenissima.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday evening expressed his "great satisfaction" over the committee's decision.

"The attention of the world on Venice must remain strong", for his part warned the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini, calling for "the sustainable development of this unique property".

The Unesco committee justified its decision - endorsed despite reservations from Norway - after receiving "last minute information" indicating a decree taken by the Council of Ministers in Rome on July 13, under which the transit of the "sea mastodons" in the historic center of Venice is a thing of the past.

From August 1, in fact, vessels over 25,000 gross tonnage, over 180 meters in height, and over 180 meters will be prohibited from entering the Saint-Marc basin, the Saint-Marc canal and the Giudecca canal. long, with an air draft of 35 meters, or whose emissions contain more than 0.1% sulfur.

They will have to moor in the industrial port of Marghera, where improvements will be made, while smaller cruise ships (around 200 passengers) can continue to dock in the heart of the city.

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The NGO Europa Nostra welcomed a "step in the right direction" Thursday during the committee meeting by videoconference.

"But the big ships should completely leave the lagoon", regretted its spokesperson, Sneska Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic.

Unesco has not signed a blank check to Italy: Rome will have to "develop a proposal and a set of corrective measures, with a timetable for implementation" before the 46th meeting of the committee in 2023, warns the final text.

Italy will also have to present "an updated report on the state of conservation of the property before 1 December 2022".

Defenders of the environment and cultural heritage accuse the large waves generated by the largest ships, several hundred meters long and several storeys high, of eroding the foundations of the Serenissima, and of threatening the fragile ecosystem of its lagoon.

The debate was revived last month with the return of cruises after months of a pandemic that had given the Venetians calm and clean air, while depriving them of significant income.

And the prospect of a classification in the number of threatened sites clearly precipitated the political calendar.

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The inscription on the list of the heritage in danger is not "a punishment", assures Unesco, even if it can be perceived "as a dishonor".

Above all, if nothing is done in the long term, the site can be removed from the World Heritage list, on which Venice has appeared since 1987.

© 2021 AFP