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UNESCO to the Rescue
Without someone protecting
the world's interesting and ancient sites, they could
easily be swept away by the changing world.
In 1959, the government of Egypt was
working on a plan to build a dam
on the River Nile. It was called the Aswan Dam, and it
was intended to generate electricity
and allow the river water to be used for
agriculture. There was one big problem with the
plan, though. The dam would flood a
nearby valley that contained
ancient Egyptian treasures, including two
enormous stone temples.
It can be difficult for governments to choose
culture and history over economics.
However, if countries always made decisions like this,
the majority of the world's ancient
sites would end up being
destroyed. Luckily, UNESCO stepped
in. They formed a committee that
tried to convince Egypt
to protect its ancient
treasures. With support from many countries, they were
finally successful. The huge temples
were carefully
removed from their original
site and moved to a safe location so
that the dam could be built.
UNESCO is an agency of the United
Nations. The United Nations is a partnership
between countries from all over the world. They are
joined to help promote
world peace, enforce human
rights, and help countries develop. UNESCO is a part of
the United Nations that is
concerned with science and culture.
After their success in saving the temples in Egypt,
UNESCO went on to save more sites
around the world. They protected lagoons
in Venice, ruins in Pakistan, and
temples in Indonesia. With industrialization
changing the world rapidly, there were
many sites that needed to be saved. Eventually,
UNESCO formed the World Heritage Organization to protect
important natural and historic sites
wherever it was necessary.
By now, the World Heritage Organization has protected
hundreds of sites ranging from
beautiful natural islands to
buildings in large cities to ancient ruins. If you're
able to visit any of the many protected sites, you'll
agree it was worth it. |
