You may not have heard of Avebury, but the tourists and visitors who have visited this World Heritage

site in Wiltshire, Southwest  England, have now voted it the world’s second best heritage site in the world

after Mexico’s Monte Alban, outscoring sites such as Peru’s Machu Picchu and India’s Taj Mahal.  The announcement was made by a panel of judges who judged on 25 criteria, including visitor experience, the preservation of the site and the holiday appeal of the local region (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-21107977).  It is estimated that over 250,000 people visit Avebury every year.  The report described Avebury as “the best-preserved and most impressive complex of prehistoric sites in Europe”.  Avebury which is estimated to have been built around 2600 BC is a Neolithic or “New Stone Age” monument containing three stone circles and is one of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain.

Nowshahr Botanical Garden is the second largest botanical garden in Iran which now houses over 800 species of plants and flowers, some of which are internationally rare.  This garden which has always been compared to the Florence Botanical Garden and the London’s Kew Garden has also been the focus of much attention by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), in addition to being registered a national natural heritage site in Iran. The experts believe that this Botanical Garden is in danger of destruction which started initially about 10 years ago.  One of the governmental organizations in Iran decided to build a road right through the garden at that time because of the lower cost of construction. This road runs through the garden for 1500 meters while the experts believe that they could have built the road differently and therefore not affect the garden.  Because of the resistance of the supporters of the garden, the construction of the road stopped for a few years.  However, three weeks ago, they started working on the road again which will no doubt have major impact on the garden.  There has so far been no response issued to all the oppositions to building this road.

Two governors of the prefectures (states/provinces) of Nagasaki and Kumamoto located on Japan’s western island of Kyushu have asked the Japanese central government to submit recommendations to the UNESCO for 13 historical Christian sites to be listed as the World Heritage Sites.  Most of the sites are located in Nagasaki including the Oura Cathedral which is already recognized as a Japanese national treasure.  Nagasaki was actually the port of entry for Christian missionaries in Japan.  According to historical records, the Tokugawa shogunate imposed a ban on Christianity in 1614, forcing the Christians to go underground for a period of around 250 years. The Japanese Central government is currently considering the request. (http://japandailypress.com/christian-historical-sites-in-kyushu-proposed-as-world-heritage-sites-2522171)

As reported by BBC, yesterday (28^th Jan, 2013) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21227053), as the French and Malian troops reached Timbuktu, they found that thousands of ancient manuscripts had been destroyed by the rebels.  The reports also show that militants also destroyed a library of ancient manuscripts, dating back to the 13th Century. The video footage of the library shows charred books and empty boxes.  The library, the Ahmed Baba institute, held about 30,000 manuscripts, and included documents about many centuries of life in Mali and neighboring countries.

About six months ago, the UNESCO reported that the rebels were destroying the ancient city of Timbuktu and the government of Mali also petitioned the UNESCO  for help and for the preservation of ancient and national heritage sites like the Tomb of Askia in Gao (http://www.policymic.com/articles/11190/al-qaeda-groups-are-destroying-timbuktu-a-unesco-world-heritage-site-in-mali)

Earlier this month the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova appealed to all military forces in Mali and asked them to protect the cultural heritage of the country, which has already been severely damaged.  In a statement Ms. Bokova invoked the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict and its two Protocols. She sent a letter to Malian and French authorities urging them to respect the Convention and in addition, mobilized the UNESCO’s Emergency Fund, the World Heritage Fund to protect the Cultural Property of Mali.

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/single-view/news/la_directrice_generale_de_lunesco_exhorte_les_forces_militaires_a_proteger_les_sites_culturels_au_mali_lors_des_raids_aeriens_et_interventions_terrestres/

Cologne Cathedral, is a UNESCO national heritage site since 1995 and one of Germany’s famous landmarks was built between 1248 and 1880.  The cathedral was heavily damaged by the Allied bombers during World War II but survived the war and now is one of most visited sites in Germany by tourists.  However, the Cathedral could be in danger being greatly damaged one more time.  The building has started to shake from the underground trains from a new station and the tunnels underneath the Cathedral.

At this time the city of Cologne, the transport and city representatives and the Cathedral officials have appointed a working group to look into the matter and solutions including for the trains to slow down when they are running under the building.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/10/us-germany-cathedral-idUSBRE9090JM20130110

Sadé or Sada is the most important Iranian winter festival.  Sada also is a celebration to honor fire and to defeat the forces of darkness and cold.

Some of Iranians believe that the festival dates back to the time of Houshang, the first Kianid king who discovered how to light a fire.

Sade is a non-religious festivity and until the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iranians openly and freely celebrated it in Iran.  However, at this time only Zorostarians are allowed to celebrate it freely.

The Qeshm’s Geo-Park is the only Middle Eastern geo-park that has been listed by UNESCO.  This park because of negligence and standards that these parks need to have has received a red warning card from the UNESCO.  The red card is given as a warning that unless the list of warnings are not followed and corrected the park could be taken off the UNESCO’s list of natural national heritage list.

After giving a yellow card (which is the first warning) to the management of the park and giving them 2 years to help and bring the park to the original standards and up keeping, the park was given a red card in Jan 2013.  This was due to the lack of the response from the management of the park.

UNESCO had asked for a number of things to be done to bring the park back to the original conditions under which the park was listed as a natural national heritage park. These include: 1) creating signs throughout the park for better guidance of visitors, b) building more roads for the tourists to get to the park, c) creating hotels or places for tourists to stay close to the park, d) unapproved structures that were either blocking views or access to the park, e) close proximity to mines that were established later and after the UNESCO’s designation, f) destruction of beaches and selling of sand by the management of the park.

Mr. Bijan Darreh-shuri, one of the important people natural national heritage in Iran and the person who had with tremendous effort and work created this Geo-park in Iran, in a conversation with Save Passargad.com said “that the managers of Qeshm did not realize the great importance of this area for tourism and did not do what was needed.  “When we were there our management team was very strong and responsible and felt responsible before the people and the future of Iran and for that area.  Qeshm is an amazing geological area with vegetation and ecological importance that is about 100,000 acres.  For example Qeshm annually hosts 400 white pelican a year and these birds are so rare and currently extinct as only 1000 of them remain in the world.  And Qeshm is also one of the areas of the world that still remains a habitat for turtles. … But unfortunately after we left, other people came in and did not feel the same. Their irresponsible behavior led to the park being delisted by the UNESCO. ” Mr. Darreh-Shuri said.  In spite of this, Mr.Darreh-shuri says that:” I am positive that if the managers even now attempt to rectify and correct the past mistakes, the UNESCO will once again list the Qeshm’s Geo-park as a national environmental heritage.”

(photo credit: AP/The National Library of Israel)

The Jewish manuscripts which are believed to about 1,000 years old reveal details of a thriving Jewish society in what was then parts of Persian Empire.(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/world/middleeast/documents-illuminate-jewish-life-in-ancient-muslim-empire.html?_r=0). The manuscripts were reportedly found in a cave in the mountainous northern area of Afghanistan and look very well preserved possibly because of the dry conditions in the cave. The manuscripts show details about the cultural, economic and religious life of the Jewish society at the time. The documents reportedly contain writings in Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, and the unique Judea-Persian language of that era.

Recent news from Susa, one of the world’s oldest cities, show the evidence of termite infestation in the hall where the ancient artifacts are kept.

Ehsan Yaghmaei, a prominent Iranian archeologist who supervises the excavations in numerous old castles in Susa and is considered as the discoverer of Bardak-e-Siah Palace, an Archimedes remains, has told the ISNA, a government reporting agency that: “There is so much bad news about Susa that the invasion of the termites could be considered just a negligible event!”

He reports about the vast destructions that have taken place in the ancient sites of Susa and refers to the fact that these sites are now used as sheep pasture and a gathering place for the addicts.

He says: “At this moment, the Susa sites are neither under the supervision of local Cultural Heritage officers nor any other authority. They are now in the hands of those who are constructing a hotel right on the ancient site.”

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*Susa (Persian: ý Shush) was an ancient city of the, Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran. It is located in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris River. The modern Iranian town of Shush is located at the site of ancient Susa. Shush is the administrative capital of the Shush County of Iran’s Khuzestan province.