UNESCO has added World War II's D-Day landing beaches in northern France and Greece's Mount Olympus to the World Heritage List during a committee meeting in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday. The committee, which continues until Wednesday, also inscribed Japan's ancient capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, along with South Sudan's Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape, the country's first World Heritage Site, the Associated Press reports.
Historic battlefields and ancient cultural landmarks recognised
The French inscription covers the five Normandy landing beaches, Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno, along with the Pointe du Hoc assault site. More than 150,000 Allied troops landed there on June 6, 1944, during the campaign to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation in World War II.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which evaluates nominations for the World Heritage Committee, noted that the sites preserve German fortifications, bomb-scarred landscapes, Allied harbour structures and sunken vessels. It described them as marking an “event widely perceived as having enabled the return of freedom and heralded a lasting peace on the European continent.” ICOMOS also urged stronger monitoring and conservation efforts, highlighting threats from tourism, climate change, rising sea levels and nearby wind farm development.
“It's probably the greatest amphibious landing there's ever been. It ought to be remembered for that alone,” historian David Edgerton said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Mount Olympus, regarded in Greek mythology as the home of the 12 Olympian gods, was recognised after a 12-year campaign by Greece as a mixed cultural and natural heritage site. Rising 2,918 metres (9,573 feet) above sea level, the mountain is believed to have been the throne of Zeus and is also known for its rich biodiversity.
Evangelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus, said inclusion on the World Heritage List “places greater obligations on our part to protect this environment,” while referring to the possible impact of increased tourism.
“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to safeguarding Mount Olympus for the benefit of present and future generations,” said Georgios Koumoutsakos, Greece's delegate to UNESCO. “As Greek mythology wisely reminds us, it is always best to remain on good terms with gods.”
Japan and South Sudan celebrate new World Heritage sites
Japan's inscription includes 19 archaeological sites in Nara Prefecture linked to the 6th- to 8th-century capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, where the country established its first centralised state based on Chinese models. The sites contain the buried remains of royal palaces, government offices, Buddhist temples and tombs that later influenced the capitals of Nara and Kyoto.
Japanese Culture Minister Kobayashi Shigeki thanked the committee for the recognition and said Japan remains committed to “transmitting this valuable property to future generations.” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on X that she hopes the designation will encourage more tourism.
Yoshiyuki Aihara, a Nara University archaeology professor, said the sites illustrate how Japan's early state developed through influences from China and the Korean Peninsula.
“If you dig underneath these rice paddies about 1 metre, you start finding a stretch of ruins in this area, though that's not easy for ordinary visitors to understand,” Aihara said.
South Sudan's Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape, the country's first World Heritage Site, includes wetlands, flood plains and savannas that support one of the world's largest land mammal migrations. UNESCO estimates that around 6 million white-eared kob, tiang and Mongalla gazelles move across the landscape with seasonal changes. The area also provides habitat for elephants, lions, cheetahs and other wildlife, while sustaining ethnic communities that have depended on herding, farming and fishing for centuries.
