Kenya and Tanzania Miss out as Africa gets seven new World Heritage Sites

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is designating 27 new World Heritage Sites, among them seven properties in Africa, four of which mapped within the East African Region.

There is a diverse slate of culturally significant areas, including four genocide memorial centers in Rwanda, Bale mountains of Ethiopia and sacred temples of Cambodia.

There are also the ancient tea forests in China, and historic towns of Europe.

These is the running list of the newest UNESCO World Heritage Sites that have just been added in 2023 during the World Heritage Sites Convention in Saudi Arabia.

Now this the list set to expand as time goes by.

·        Koh Ker archaeological site in Cambodia

·        Santiniketan, West Bengal, India

·        Old Tea Forests of the Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, China

·        Mongolia’s Deer Stone Monuments

·        Korea’s Gaya Tumuli burial mounds

·        Türkiye’s archaeological site of Gordion

·        Germany’s Jewish medieval historic center of Erfurt

·        Architecture of the town of Kaunas, Lithuania

·        Guatemala’s National Archaeological Park Tak’alik Ab’aj

·        Old town of Kuldīga, Latvia

·        Prehistoric Sites of Talayotic Menorca

·        The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor of the Silk Road

·        Ethiopia’s Gedeo Cultural Landscape

·        Iran’s Persian Caravanserai

·        Canada’s Tr’ondëk-Klondike region

·        The Czech town of Žatec and its tradition of Saaz Hops

·        Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan

·        “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route in Azerbaijan

·        Djerba in Tunisia

·        India’s Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas

·        Indonesia’s Cosmological Axis of Yogyakarta

·        Bale Mountains National Park in Ethiopia

·        The Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua in Congo

·        Volcanoes and forests of Mount Pelée and pitons of Martinique

·        Viking-age ring fortresses in Denmark

·        The Maison Carrée of Nîmes, France

·        Russia’s Astronomical Observatories of Kazan Federal University.

On the other hand, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have this time missed the boat; there are no new sites from the three East African Destinations.

And, this is despite the fact that Tanzania, had proposed the ‘Oldonyo Murwak,’ sacred hill in Kilimanjaro Region since 1997, to be added on the UNESCO WHS, but the site remains on pending list.

Tanzania however already has seven other World Heritage Sites. Kenya also has seven, while Uganda features three.