Vienna has been added to Unesco’s list of World Heritage in Danger, while notable sites including Machu Picchu and the Great Barrier Reef have narrowly missed out joining the Austrian capital on the list of sites in need of protection.

Added during the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee, the body said it was adding the Historic Centre of Vienna – added to the World Heritage List in 2001 – due to high rise projects at the city’s heart.

Despite unprecedented coral bleaching events which have destroyed large swathes of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Unesco opted not to add the natural wonder to its in danger list. Addressing this, Unesco stated that the Australian government had taken significant steps to save the World Heritage Site under its Reef 2050 Plan – an overarching framework for protecting and managing the reef until 2050.

The committee also made the decision not to add Machu Picchu to the list, approving a report on the site’s state of conservation. According to Unesco, the measures taken by Peru’s government to implement previous recommendations have been a success, with sufficient progress to overcome outlined threats.

In more positive news, the committee also announced the removal of the Ivory Coast’s Comoé National Park and Ethiopia’s Simien National Park from its list of World Heritage in Danger.

For Comoé, Unesco praised efforts to combat poaching in the area, also noting that populations of iconic species such as elephants and chimpanzees that were thought to have disappeared from the site are growing again, and that the state of conservation of habitats is now very positive. The committee also acknowledged that targets for fauna conservation had been met.

An alternative road built to help alleviate the disturbance of traffic at Simien helped the site lose its in danger status, with the development also helping to reduce cattle overgrazing and visitor impact. The Committee also praised the stabilisation of the site’s endemic animal populations of Walia ibex and Gelada baboons.

Unesco currently has 1,052 sites worldwide designated as having environmental or cultural importance on its World Heritage List. Within that list 55 are listed as in danger of losing heritage status, meaning it would lose the support of Unesco and likely suffer from lost tourism revenue. Being added to the in danger list can address problems by unlocking access to both funds and publicity, alerting the international community to an ongoing plight. Only one location has ever lost its heritage status – Dresden in 2009.

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