World Heritage Sites in Danger

UNESCO has a list of 38 World Heritage Sites that are endangered. The reasons vary, from political to environmental to financial. National Geographic News shows us five sites that have been recently added to the list, and two that have been removed as their condition and security has improved. Two of the newly-listed sites are in Mali.

The World Heritage Committee’s decision to add Timbuktu to the danger list reflects growing international concerns about the looting and destruction of its historical sites after the city was taken over earlier this year by the armed groups MLNA and Ansar Dine.
According to Voice of America, Ansar Dine said the shrines at Timbuktu are idolatrous and un-Islamic.
In June, UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova expressed dismay over reports that three sacred tombs at Timbuktu had been destroyed.

Shown here is the 500-year-old Tomb of Askia in Mali. More