DEANNA MACDONALD
Special to The Globe and Mail
July 12, 2008

When the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site this week, geologists were thrilled. Not only will the designation boost the landmark's international profile, it's should also spike visits to the scientific marvel in the Bay of Fundy.

But here's the rub: More interest can also mean more danger for heritage sites.

Plans for a new bridge in Dresden's Elbe Valley could threaten the city's cultural landscape - and could mean the city is delisted as a World Heritage Site. (Matthias Rietschel/The Associated Press)

Take the Galapagos Islands, one of the first sites to be put on the World Heritage List. From 1990 to 2006, tourism more than tripled - along with visits from invasive species that are playing havoc with the area's fragile ecosystem.

In cities, meanwhile, locals from Luang Prabang to Prague complain that an influx of heritage visitors can turn complex urban landscapes into vapid tourist theme parks. As Herve Barré, a specialist with UNESCO's Sustainable Tourism Program, has pointed out: "Tourism is a paradox; it is at once a destroyer and a saviour of heritage."

And tourism isn't the only peril for heritage sites. While 11 new sites were recently added to the World Heritage List - updated in Quebec this week - 30 others are currently on an endangered list. Among the threats: war, natural disasters and even simple development.

CONFLICT
War has destroyed heritage sites throughout history, from the sack of ancient Rome by the Barbarians to the aerial bombings in Europe during the Second World War.

The most dramatic case in recent memory was the Taliban's destruction of the Buddhas of the Bamiyan Valley - Afghan treasures dating from the 1st to the 13th century - in 2001. Today, the remains are on UNESCO's "in danger" list.

So are two sites in Iraq. The Samarra Archeological City, for instance, the capital of the Abbasid Empire, is now being used by multinational forces for military operations and has been bombed repeatedly.

Even when bombs aren't aimed directly at heritage sites, though, international conflicts can put them at risk. Tensions between Serbia and newly independent Kosovo have meant that the medieval monuments of Kosovo, including rare 13th-century church frescos, are suffering from neglect.

Fighting in Virunga National Park, a listed reserve for about 700 gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has forced park officials to flee.

DEVELOPMENT
It may ease traffic congestion, but if Dresden builds a new bridge over Elbe Valley, it could lose it's heritage status. UNESCO argues that the 635-metre bridge will have a "serious impact on the integrity" of the cultural landscape - often called the Florence of Germany for its baroque skyline - and is urging the city to build a tunnel instead.

In other cities, development hasn't put heritage status at risk so much as sites themselves. For example, Abu Mena, an important Christian sanctuary in Egypt, was put on UNESCO's danger list in 2001 after urban growth caused the destruction of a number of ancient cisterns. It led to rising water levels, unstable soil - and the sinking of historic structures.

HERITAGE STATUS
In some cases, simply the desire to get heritage designation can put proposed sites in danger. In China, residents near the sacred mountain of Watai, the site of an ancient Buddhist temple, complain that their homes and businesses are being destroyed to make the site more attractive to UNESCO officials and tourists.

NATURAL DISASTERS
For the most part, UNESCO's danger list is made up of sites threatened by man-made problems. But sometimes a natural disaster does bump a heritage site onto the roster. The ancient walled city of Baku in Azerbaijan, for instance, has been on the list since a devastating 2003 earthquake.

So what can be done to protect sites from such powerful forces?

UNESCO has established a sustainable tourism program to improve both tourist management and conservation. Still, the annual budget for World Heritage sites is only $20-million (U.S.) - not a lot of money to maintain 851 sites worldwide.

Perhaps technology is the answer. A Web project called the World Heritage Tour (http://www.world-heritage-tour.org) is building a photographic

database of all heritage sites. Creator Tito Dupret's goal is to create a legacy for "future generations" of sites that are disappearing because of everything from war to mass tourism.

The only downside: Virtual views of endangered sites may inspire even conservation-minded travellers to see heritage sites offline while they still can.

How a heritage site gets on the 'in danger' list
The World Heritage Committee can put sites on the in-danger list when the qualities that made properties designated heritage sites are threatened.

Threats to sites can be drawn to the attention of the governing committee by states, private individuals and non-governmental organizations.

If an investigation determines the threats to be real, the World Heritage Fund may allocate money for site assistance. It also alerts the international community that aid is needed.

There are currently 30 sites on the in-danger list. For more information, visit whc.unesco.org.