Three UN World Heritage sites removed from endangered list

Three United Nations World Heritage sites - the world's first national park at Yellowstone in the United States, Srebarna nature reserve in Bulgaria, and the Kotor region in Serbia and Montenegro - were removed from the endangered list today following ecological and conservation improvements.

At the same time the archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime destroyed two huge centuries-old Buddhas, and Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat) in Iraq were simultaneously both inscribed as World Heritage sites and put on the list of World Heritage in Danger.

The World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reached the decisions at a weeklong meeting at the organization's headquarters in Paris.

Yellowstone, designated a national park in 1872 and inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1978, was put and on the endangered list in 1995 due to concern over adjacent mining operations, the introduction of non-native lake trout, road construction and the pressure of year-round visitors.

Following abandonment of the mining project and in recognition of progress achieved in handling other essential issues, the Committee said it decided to withdraw the site from the list while inviting the United States to continue providing information on measures taken and progress accomplished.

The Srebarna Nature Reserve, put on the World Heritage List in 1983, was added to the endangered list in 1992 due to progressive destruction of the bird populations' fresh-water habitat with the reduced flow of water into the site. Bulgaria has since made efforts to supply water from the Danube and stop damaging activities.

The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor was inscribed on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger simultaneously in 1979, when an earthquake seriously damaged many monuments, including four Romanesque churches and the town walls, in the medieval harbour on the Adriatic coast in Montenegro.