UNESCO TO CONSIDER BRAZIL’S BID FOR RIO DE JANEIRO TO BE CLASSIFIED AS WORLD HERITAGE SITE

BRASÍLIA (27 June 2012) – Brazil’s proposal for Rio de Janeiro to be named a World Heritage Site will be reviewed during the 36th Meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (36th WHC) to be held  in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 25 June to 5 July 2012. Brazilian Culture Minister Ana de Hollanda and President of the Brazilian Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional - IPHAN) Luiz Fernando de Almeida will attend the meeting to advocate the inclusion of another Brazilian site in the World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee is currently comprised of delegations from Algeria, Cambodia, Colombia, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Qatar, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand and UAE.

Rio de Janeiro’s bid to be listed as a World Heritage Site
In partnership with the Association of Entrepreneurial Friends of UNESCO, the Roberto Marinho Foundation, and the State and Municipal Governments of Rio de Janeiro, IPHAN has worked for several years on the bid for  Rio de Janeiro to be listed as World Heritage Cultural Landscape. In September 2009 IPHAN submitted the full bid report to UNESCO, explaining its importance and universal value, which lie mainly in the combination of the city's natural beauty and manmade infrastructure. In January 2011, the UNESCO World Heritage Center, headquartered in Paris, decided to include Rio de Janeiro’s bid on the agenda of the 36th WHC.

While recognized as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, it is Rio de Janeiro’s relationship between man and nature that is at the core of the bid to be listed as a World Heritage Site in the Cultural Landscape category. Some key attributes of the city - which emerged and grew between the sea and the mountains – include: Sugar Loaf, Corcovado Mountain, Tijuca Forest, Flamengo Park, Botanical Garden, Copacabana beach and the entrance to Guanabara Bay. Other attractions include the Leme fort and mountain, Copacabana fort and Arpoador, Flamengo Park and Botafogo Bay.

Cultural Landscape
Rio de Janeiro is the first city to submit a bid to be listed as a World Heritage Site in the Urban Cultural Landscape category. The President of IPHAN, Luiz Fernando de Almeida, points out that the major differentiator of  Rio de Janeiro is "the intentional use of nature which, to meet the economic interests of the Portuguese settlers formed the landscape of the city, highlights the originality of Rio de Janeiro in a landscape produced by exchange between different cultures associated with a natural site. "

If the bid is successful, the city's sights highlighted in the proposal will be the focus of integrated initiatives to preserve  its cultural landscape. Brazil’s bid is scheduled to be voted on 30 June 2012.

Today, Brazil has 18 cultural and natural assets in the list of 911 assets recognized by UNESCO.

To view a summary of IPHAN’s submission (PDF in Portuguese and English), visit: http://portal.iphan.gov.br/portal/baixaFcdAnexo.do;jsessionid=BDBC95E269A7AFDE30C5F0585520027E?id=2505