Ecuador: Citing improvements, World Heritage Committee takes Galápagos NP off Danger List
The UN has withdrawn the Galápagos Islands from its world heritage danger list, citing improved efforts by Ecuador to protect the archipelago's unique biodiversity.
The world heritage committee of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) voted 15 to four to remove the islands from the list of sites endangered by environmental threats or overuse.
"It's important to recognise the effort made by the Ecuadorean government to preserve this heritage," said Luiz Fernando de Almeida, head of the Brazilian delegation, which proposed the motion at the meeting in Brasilia.
Ecuador's government will welcome the decision, which reversed Unesco's listing in 2007, but some conservationists expressed alarm.
President Rafael Correa's administration had tackled serious problems in the archipelago but it was too soon to declare victory, said Johannah Barry, head of Galápagos Conservancy, a Virginia-based research group.
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