Due to an increment in industrial activities , such as minelaying and logging , just under half of all natural World Heritage site are under scourge , according to a newfangled reportby WWF International . In it , they warn that many sites of spectacular grandness , from the Great Barrier Reef to Machu Picchu , are at risk of infection and could be badly damaged . This would threaten the income and livelihoods of an estimated 11 million people who live in and around these land site , as well as those who swear on them for work and resource .
The reportfound that a total of 114 out of 229 natural World Heritage sites , which themselves cover just 0.5 percentage of the Earth ’s open , were at tremendous risk . The list of World Heritage website is maintained by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee , who also accumulate their own lean of those most “ in peril . ” But this late one reap up by the WWFswamps that made by UNESCO , who name just 17 natural sites at risk .
The Grand Canyon , one of North America ’s most famous natural heritage site , is also under threat . sunikophoto / Shutterstock
The site are divided intothree disjoined categories . The first are those with “ raw ” heritage , which include regions and landscapes that “ contain greatest raw phenomenon or surface area of exceeding natural lulu , ” as well as those that support threatened species of animals and industrial plant , or expose scientifically of import geological and strong-arm processes . The second family are area of “ cultural ” heritage , which contain buildings and monuments of significant historical and cultural grandness . The third family is “ mixed , ” display features of the first two .
“ World Heritage site should receive the high levels of protective covering , yet we are often unable to safeguard even this important fraction of the Earth ’s aerofoil , ” explain Marco Lambertini , the director general of WWF International , in astatement . “ We all agree that these are some of the most valuable and unique places on the planet , now we need to work together to lease these sites provide for the well - being of multitude and nature . ”
The monumental increment in development around these internationally important sites is not just a scourge for the wildlife that calls them home , but for the millions of people who depend on them as a primary informant of income . They say that this realness is often ignore by those who are making the decisions that impact the futurity of these sites , and call for more action mechanism to aid protect them from impinge industry .
