NEWS · B2 Level - Part 7
New landmarks added to UNESCO's world heritage sites
We begin today with some international landmarks we might need to add to our travel bucket lists.
Level: B2 · 20 sentences
Transcript
- We begin today with some international landmarks we might need to add to our travel bucket lists.
- 26 new sites have been added to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites,
- a catalog of more than 1000 places of outstanding value to all mankind.
- These important landmarks range from ancient archaeological sites to buildings to national parks
- that are rich in cultural significance, history, or simply natural beauty.
- Places like the pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Great Wall of China,
- the Taj Mahal in India, or the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee.
- The folks in charge of this list are the World Heritage Committee.
- And every year they consider new sites to be nominated by host countries to inscribe or add as a UNESCO heritage site.
- Once on the list, a site is then marked as a protected zone
- and conservation efforts are made to shield sites from over tourism, climate change, and other factors that could cause damage.
- This year, West African nation Sierra Leone received its first acknowledgement, the Gola-Tiwai Complex.
- The biodiversity hot spot includes a rainforest national park
- and an island wildlife sanctuary that's home to many species of elephants and hippopotami.
- Also joining the list this year are the four grand palaces of King Ludwig II
- built in Germany's Bavarian region in the 1800s, including the Disney-like Neuschwanstein Castle.
- In the United Arab Emirates, a desert archaeological site that holds evidence of human activity from more than 200,000 years ago.
- And in Greece, a palace complex that served as a hub of daily activity for the Minoan civilization thousands of years ago.
- The palace contains examples of early writing, architecture, and art,
- and is being called a treasure trove of prehistoric Mediterranean culture.