How great is the Great Wall of China? Very!

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I bet you thought the name said it all. A recent survey by of this World Heritage site – billed as “technologically advanced” – puts the original length of the wall at 5,500 miles, much further than the previous estimate of 3,700 miles. That’s a difference of almost 50 percent!

This effort took more than two years of surveying with GPS tools, infrared technology and other mapping techniques, and the outcome is the most complete view of the wall ever seen. Since perfectly restored pieces comprise no more than 20 percent of the original wall, this new perspective will help with efforts at conservation.

Erosion and war impeded protection in the past, but the current threat is construction, as China embraces (parts of) a capitalist economy. In some cases, roads exist in places once occupied by the Great Wall of China. Almost a third of the structure has disappeared completely.

More research is on the agenda, with completion expected to come in 2010.

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WHS tentative list: Places to love — Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

by Catherine Bodry on


For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we covered the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites were not posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list — this is the last site covered.

Number: 12

Name of Site: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

Location of site: Georgia/Florida

Reason for importance (in a nutshell): This site embodies the Okefenokee Swamp, a large, intact wetland that houses the headwaters of two rivers. It also has undisturbed deposits of peat. The vast, saucer-shaped bog was once part of the ocean floor, and the swamp is one of the oldest and most well-preserved freshwater areas is the US, according to GORP.

Catherine’s take: It’s got more going for it than a name that’s fun to say; intact wetlands are hard to come by these days. The photo I found was so beautiful I had to make it larger than usual. And besides, if we run out of oil we can just burn the peat, right?

WHS Tentative List: Place to Love — San Antonio Franciscan Missions, Texas

by Catherine Bodry on

For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we are covering the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites will not be posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list.

Name of site: San Antonio Franciscan Missions

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Reason for importance (in a nutshell): According to the National Park Service website, the five Franciscan missions, which are spread around San Antonio, “are a remarkable concentration of surviving structures that superbly represent the Spanish colonial influence in this part of the New World. The religious, economic and technological systems of the missionaries created settled communities that became the basis of the region’s ethnically diverse society.” The most well-known of the five, the Alamo, was established in 1718 as a way station between missions.

Catherine’s take: We have so few structures in the US that are truly old. And while 350 years may be positively newborn to a European, that time frame marks a lot of history for the New World.

WHS new “Tentative List”: Places to Love–Dayton Aviation Sites

by Grant Martin on

For the Gadling series “World Heritage Site new “Tentative List”: Places to Love” we are covering the 14 sites that have been submitted for possible inclusion as an official World Heritage Site in the United States. The sites will not be posted in order of importance or in the order they appear on the list.

Number 2

Name of Site: Dayton Aviation Sites

Location: All over Dayton, in Southwest Ohio

Reason for importance in a nutshell: In short: Dayton is the birthplace of aviation. The Wright Brothers, pioneers and innovators in aircraft construction and control based their operation out of the back of their bicycle shop in West Dayton, Ohio. Landmarks such as their workshop, Wright and Wright printing and Huffman Prairie Flying field highlight their involvement in the industry, while other aviation tidbits such as America’s first Air Force Base are included in the heritage site.

Grant’s Take: It doesn’t take much to impress this airplane nerd. While I’m generally hesitant to set foot in the great state of Ohio (being from Michigan and all), the Dayton Aviation Sites have my interest in the Buckeye State emphatically piqued. If you do find yourself in the Midwest and are hankering for a bit of history, consider stopping in for a tour; you can check out a lot of information here. Alternatively, if you’re on a long Skybus layover, cancellation, or are visiting Jamie Rhein, consider taking the trip over from Columbus — it’s only fifty miles away!

UNESCO delists a World Heritage Site

by Neil Woodburn on

It would be easy to think that once a location becomes a UNESCO World Heritage Site that such an honor is irrevocable.

UNESCO, however, recently shocked the world by proving that they can just as easily remove a site from the list as they can add one.

And why would they do such a thing?

Because sites can change for the worse over time and become something entirely different.

Ironically, it is quite often the UNESCO stamp itself that is the downfall of these World Heritage Sites. Once a location makes the list, tourists soon follow. And tourists, as we all know, quickly attract local authorities and entrepreneurs trying to make a buck.

The problem is that UNESCO actually has no authority over their World Heritage Sites–that’s up to the local governments. And when these local governments start dabbling in the sites, their status becomes endangered.

This is exactly what happened at the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman after poaching decreased the oryx population by 85% and the government followed up reducing the land area by 90%. This pissed off UNESCO bad enough that they responded by honoring the sanctuary with the organization’s first ever delisting.

It’s sort of sad to see it on the website, with a big line drawn through the name, but I think UNESCO made the right choice. Hopefully this will be a shot across the bow for other countries that need to start thinking seriously about protecting their own World Heritage Sites.