UNESCO Set to Declare Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle a World Heritage Site at Risk
UNESCO is expected to declare the Beaufort Castle and several other sites in southern Lebanon as World Heritage Sites at risk during its upcoming conference in Busan, South Korea. The designation highlights threats from ongoing conflicts and climate change. The decision will be voted on by UNESCO’s 196 member states starting Friday. Lazaro Alondo Asumo, head of UNESCO’s World Heritage Center, emphasized that the classification aims to help communities recover from trauma and secure funding for preservation rather than serve as a reprimand.
Beaufort Castle, a Crusader fortress overlooking southern Lebanon and northern Israel’s Galilee, was retaken by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in May 2023, 26 years after Israel’s withdrawal in 2000. The castle has long been a strategic military site, used by Palestinian militants and later Hezbollah to launch attacks on Israeli communities. The IDF recently revealed a tunnel network beneath the site used by militants to fire approximately 400 rockets toward northern Israel, initiating operations to destroy this infrastructure.
Other sites proposed for the endangered list include the archaeological site of Sebastia in the West Bank, which preserves remnants of the biblical city of Samaria and faces threats from both conflict and damage. Despite Israel’s 2017 withdrawal from UNESCO, it remains part of the World Heritage Committee that decides on such listings. Additional sites under consideration include savannahs in South Sudan endangered by war and climate change, ancient ruins in Lebanon’s Tyre damaged by Israeli strikes, and the Crimean Greek settlement threatened by unauthorized excavations amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The deep Lake Baikal in Russia, holding 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater reserves, may also be classified as at risk due to pollution, deforestation, and water level changes caused by upstream dams. UNESCO’s 2023 report warned that urgent action is needed to prevent ecological degradation. Other potential new heritage sites include Normandy’s D-Day beaches, Amazonian theaters in Brazil, and a Tunisian village.
This UNESCO designation aims to raise global awareness and mobilize resources to protect these culturally and historically significant sites amid ongoing regional conflicts and environmental challenges.
