At the 33rd session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which is taking place in Seville these days, it has been decided to remove the Dresden Elbe Valley from the World Heritage List because of the new four-lane bridge, Waldschlösschenbrücke, which is being built across the Elbe river just outside the historic city centre. According to UNESCO the construction of the bridge means that the valley landscape fails to keep its “outstanding universal value as inscribed”.
The only other site ever to be removed from the list was the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman, which was struck from the list in 2007 after its size had been reduced by 90 %, thereby causing a drastic decline in the antelope population.
UNESCO’s press release:
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=45995&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
The Guardian reports:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/25/dresden-bridge-unesco-heritage-status
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