World Heritage Committee inscribes Russian site on World Heritage List and approves extension to Swiss site

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia today inscribed a natural site in the Russian Federation on the World Heritage List and has approved the Italian extension of a natural site in Switzerland.

The two sites concerned (in order of inscription)

Monte San Giorgio (Italy) (Extension of «Monte San Giorgio », Switzerland)

Monte San Giorgio is a pyramid-shaped, wooded mountain that rises to an altitude of 1096 m above sea level and which lies to the south of Lake Lugano, in the canton of Ticino (Switzerland). The site is regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic Period (245-230 million years ago). It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2003. The extension is contiguous with the existing site, on the Italian side of the border. The value of this extension lies in the exceptional importance and variety of its Triassic marine fossil record.

Putorana Plateau (Russian Federation)

This site coincides with the area of the Putoransky State Nature Reserve, and is located in the central part of the Putorana Plateau in northern Central Siberia. It is situated about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. The part of the plateau inscribed on the World Heritage List harbours a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems. A major reindeer migration route crosses the property, which represents an exceptional, large-scale and increasingly rare natural phenomenon.

These sites are in addition to 27 other natural, cultural and mixed sites inscribed or extended during the current session of the Committee in Sri Lanka, the United States of America, the United Republic of Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Australia, India, Iran (2), Marshall Islands, Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, China (2), Tajikistan, France (2), Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Austria, Romania, Spain, Mexico (2), Brazil, Kiribati, Bulgaria.

The 34^th session of the World Heritage Committee is being held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Culture from Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira. The meeting opened on 25 July and will continue through to 3 August. A total of 38 sites have been considered for inscription on the World Heritage List.