The next destinations selected to join the Unesco World Heritage list will be announced over the coming week. Some 36 candidates are hoping to make it onto on the coveted list, which comes with tourism clout, nominal protections and access to extra funding. Nominees are divided by category: natural sites; cultural sites; and mixed sites a combination of natural and cultural.
Although this may sound negative, being added to this list can aid destinations in increasing protections around culturally valuable sites, as well as assisting them financially. The committee announced on 2 July that the Birthplace of Jesus, the Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem, has been taken off the List of World Heritage in Danger thanks to restorative work carried out on the Nativity Church and the introduction of a management plan to conserve the church.
Meanwhile, the islands and protected areas of the Gulf of California in Mexico has been added to the blacklist. The World Heritage list is currently comprised of 1, sites in countries, with more added every year.
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