The United Nations announced that it will not list Venice as an endangered World Heritage Site this year, opting to revisit the issue in 2017 and giving Italy more time to comply with the UN’s recommendations for conservation. Among the problems cited by the UN that are leading to the city’s deterioration are an excess of tourists; insufficient strategies and progress to preserve the maritime city; a lack of a sustainable tourism strategy or overall vision of how to best protect the city; planned development on land and in the lagoon, including dredging new shipping canals and expanding the airport; an absence of speed or size limits for boats traveling through the lagoon, which can create wave erosion; and exclusion of the interests and input of civil society and nongovernmental organizations from the government’s decision-making process.
The World Heritage in Danger List consists of UNESCO World Heritage sites whose conservation and protection are threatened due to external factors including environmental impact, war, and development. In some instances, sites being listed as endangered leads to greater funding and conservation efforts. Currently, 55 sites out of 1,024 are on the list. As Italy takes pride in its UNESCO World Heritage sites – Italy has 55 listed sites, more than any other country – an endangered listing would be embarrassing.
In 2014, UNESCO warned Italy that it may put Venice on the endangered list unless Italy acted to conserve the lagoon, including banning cruise ships, destructive development, and limiting the number of tourists allowed each year. Venice’s city council does not keep track of exactly how many tourists come to the city, but the number is estimated at 25 million annually – a sharp contrast to the population of Venice, which is just over 260,000.
In 2015, UNESCO commissioned the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a nongovernmental organization, to investigate the state of the city. The group found that no substantial progress had been made toward furthering conservation efforts.
Venice became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, and environmental groups, the government, and the tourism industry disagree on how to protect it. Environmentalists side with the UN in condemning large numbers of tourists and the presence of cruise ships, but city officials have a different perspective, saying tourism is good for growth. Venice mayor Luigi Brugnaro, who supports the presence of cruise ships in Venice, told The Telegraph, “I believe this is the time to make international decisions thinking of Venetians above all,” he said. “Venetians don’t want to die, but want to make the city grow with their pride and talent.”
However, at the 2016 UNESCO meeting in Istanbul, UNESCO representatives appeared to have been swayed by the Italian government and confident in its ability to handle the issue. The UNESCO representative for Kuwait said, “We thank Italy for the aid it gives to countries present, therefore we trust the Italian authorities.” The Azerbaijan representative said he believed Italy “has competence in conservation and that it will work closely with Icomos to implement all the recommendations.”
By Kathy McCabe
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