Stonehenge, Avebury, will not be listed as world heritage in danger: UNESCO

The 46th World Heritage Committee has decided against including Stonehenge, Avebury, and associated sites in the United Kingdom on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

“The site Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) has not been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger,” a UNESCO spokesperson said after a discussion on it at the committee’s meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The Stonehenge is one of the most popular prehistoric structures. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The site was nominated to be added to the World Heritage in Danger list because of a road improvement scheme including the construction of a tunnel and an open four-lane motorway within the Stonehenge component.

A World Heritage Committee report recommended the inclusion of the site on the danger list as the contract for the road improvement has been awarded. It said the preparatory works in the vicinity had commenced, and the state party had not prepared, in consultation with the World Heritage Centre and the advisory bodies, a set of corrective measures, including modifying the scheme.

UNESCO website describes Stonehenge as the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world and Avebury the largest. “Together with inter-related monuments, and their associated landscapes, they demonstrate Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and mortuary practices resulting from around 2000 years of continuous use and monument building between circa 3700 and 1600 BC. As such they represent a unique embodiment of our collective heritage.”

The Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal was removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger. Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1981 for its unique biodiversity and exceptional ecosystems, Niokolo-Koba National Park faced a series of threats including wildlife depletion.