Venice Proposed for Inclusion in World Heritage Sites in Danger

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a recommendation that the Italian city of Venice and its lagoon should be added to its list of World Heritage in Danger sites.

According to The New York Times, UNESCO World Heritage Center experts will meet in September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to decide whether Venice should be added to the danger list due to overtourism and the impact of climate change.

Experts from UNESCO said Italy is failing to protect the historic sites in Venice, as the country’s measures are “insufficient and not detailed enough.” The organization’s spokesperson said that Italy has failed to communicate in a “sustained and substantive manner,” despite previous efforts to add the city to the danger list.

UNESCO hopes local and national stakeholders use the decision to consider adding Venice to the list this year to address long-standing issues. Municipality representatives from the Italian city said they would “carefully read the proposed decision” and “discuss it with the government.”

“Resolution of long-standing but urgent issues is hindered by a lack of overall joint strategic vision for the long-term preservation of the property and low effectiveness of integrated coordinated management at all stakeholder levels,” a UNESCO spokesperson said.

Venice has been dealing with overtourism since before the coronavirus pandemic, but the numbers have bounced back since international travel reopened. In 2019, around 193,000 people filled the city’s center in one day.

In total, a committee of 21 UNESCO member states will review more than 200 sites at the September meeting and decide which will be added to the danger list.