Despite the threats hanging over their future, Venice and the Great Barrier Reef remain Unesco World Heritage Sites. And two new Italian sites appear on the list.
The frescoes of Padua and the thermal baths of Montecatini are officially Unesco World Heritage Sites. This was decided by the UN agency for culture during its 44th annual assembly, held in Fuzhou, China. At least for now, Venice and the Australian Great Barrier Reef have been saved from the list of sites in danger; a stance that appears to underestimate the catastrophic consequences of climate change.
Padova Urbs picta — the ensemble of fresco painting cycles preserved within eight religious and civil buildings in the historic centre: the Scrovegni and Eremitani, the Palazzo della Ragione, the Reggia, the Baptistery and their piazzas, the Cittadella antoniana and San Michele — has been added to the Unesco World Heritage list. Giotto, who settled in the Venetian city around 1302 and was the author of the magnificent frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, set in motion an artistic and cultural season that lasted throughout the century and also featured Guariento, Giusto de' Menabuoi, Altichiero da Zevio, Jacopo Avanzi and Jacopo da Verona.
According to Unesco, this fresco cycle "illustrates a completely new way of representing narrative in painting, with new spatial perspectives influenced by advances in the science of optics and a new capacity to depict human figures in all their characteristics, including feelings and emotions. These innovations mark a new era in the history of art, producing an irreversible change of direction." Padua — which had already received this recognition for its botanical garden — is one of the few cities in the world to host two, on a par with Tivoli with Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana.
The Tuscan town of Montecatini Terme is also among the eleven European spa towns that have become Unesco World Heritage Sites, together with Baden bei Wien (Austria), Spa (Belgium); Františkovy Lázně, Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně (Czech Republic), Vichy (France); Bad Ems, Baden-Baden and Bad Kissingen (Germany) and the City of Bath (United Kingdom). "These complexes are all integrated into an overall urban setting that includes a carefully managed recreational and therapeutic environment within an evocative landscape. Taken together, these sites embody the significant interchange of human values and developments in the fields of medicine, science and balneology."
Out of a total of 1,129 Unesco World Heritage Sites (including those in danger), no fewer than 57 are Italian; no other country in the world has as many. Completing the podium are China, on 55, and Spain and Germany with 48 each.
The warning had been issued at the end of June: due to the presence of large cruise ships in the lagoon, the city of Venice risked being added to the red list of sites in danger. In the meantime, after months of debate, a solution to the issue had been found: a decree approved by the council of ministers decided that large ships would be redirected to Marghera from 1 August, where suitable berthing points would be built. The threat had been averted, then — but not entirely, because Unesco is nonetheless asking Italian institutions to submit, by December 2021, a plan to safeguard Venice from mass tourism. Against a resident population of 50,000, some 25 million tourists a year were being recorded on the eve of the pandemic.
According to the NGO World Heritage Watch, the moment to breathe a sigh of relief has not yet come. "The persistent problems afflicting the precarious conservation status of Venice and its lagoon have long been associated with a complex and ineffective governance framework," warns president Stephan Doempke. "A long-term vision and a strategy involving the local community are lacking."
For now, no mention is made of the elephant in the room: sea level rise. And yet, Unesco's experts have put in writing that the Mose — the system of mobile barriers designed to protect the city from high water — was designed on the assumption of a 22-centimetre rise over the course of the century. In light of the most up-to-date projections, a rise of one metre cannot be ruled out. This means that in a few years' time, the Mose will inevitably no longer be effective. "The question is not whether it will happen, but only when," they conclude.
The Australian Great Barrier Reef, severely compromised by ongoing climate change, was also among the Unesco World Heritage Sites potentially facing endangered status. In this case too, however, the UN agency chose to back down. No downgrading, therefore, but an invitation to the Australian government to carry out a research expedition and share its findings by February 2022, ahead of the December 2022 deadline that had originally been set.
According to various environmental NGOs, the decision was heavily influenced by aggressive lobbying on the part of the Australian government, alarmed by the possible consequences of a resounding rebuke. It comes as no surprise that other oil-exporting nations sided with it, such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. "This is a victory for one of the most cynical lobbying exercises in recent history," thunders David Ritter, head of Greenpeace Australia. "This is not a success. It is a day of ignominy for the Australian government."
