The site comprising the historic city of Paraty and the Ilha Grande Basin, in Angra dos Reis, in the southern region of Rio de Janeiro state, received a favorable technical recommendation this week from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to become a World Heritage Site.
The federal government had submitted the nomination for the second time last year. The first application was in 2009, when Paraty reached the final stage of evaluation but had its nomination rejected. Each country can submit only one nominee per year, and the status is awarded by UNESCO after a rigorous selection process based on technical evaluations.
Paraty is competing as a mixed heritage site for its combination of cultural and natural monuments, including several colonial-era buildings. The application submitted by IPHAN covers an area of 204,000 hectares and 187 islands. Along with its built heritage, the region features environmental protection areas spread across six municipalities and is home to several traditional communities, including Quilombolas, Indigenous peoples, and Caiçaras.
“Since the advisory bodies of the convention—both cultural and natural—have issued favorable recommendations for inscription [on the heritage list], we view these positive signs as an indication that the World Heritage Committee is likely to approve it,” said Marcelo Brito, Director of Promotion and Cooperation at IPHAN.
Brazil currently has 21 sites inscribed on the UNESCO list. IPHAN expects the official announcement to be made between June 30 and July 10, during the annual meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Source: AECWeb, Agência Brasil
This article was written by Romullo Baratto. The translation is powered by AI.
