Europa Nostra supports nomination of Roșia Montană for UNESCO World Heritage Status

Europa Nostra and its President Plácido Domingo welcome the landmark decision by the Romanian Government to nominate the ancient mining landscape of Roșia Montană for UNESCO World Heritage status. In a letter sent today to the Prime Minister of Romania Dacian Ciolos, Maestro Domingo endorses “this important new nomination”, which will be officially submitted to UNESCO on 9 December 2016, and congratulates “the Romanian Government for its new strategy of integrated sustainable development for the entire area”. Europa Nostra has campaigned for a long-term development plan for Rosia Montana for over a decade, which included the site being put in 2013 on its very first list of 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe.

Photo: Petru Mortu

Photo: Petru Mortu

In his letter to Romania’s Prime Minister, the President of Europa Nostra stated: “We are delighted to witness such a positive policy development by the Romanian Government under your leadership. We are fully confident that a wise, long-term integrated plan of sustainable development of Roșia Montană – with its heritage and its community representing the core value and the main beneficiaries of such a plan – will be implemented in a near future”.

Plácido Domingo added: “We very much hope that your Government will be successful in attracting due support by the structural funds of the European Union. Europa Nostra and I will continue to closely follow any future developments and can assure you of our continuous support”.

For over a decade, Europa Nostra and its member organisations in Romania led by Pro Patrimonio and ARA – Architecture, Restoration, Archaeology have called for a culturally sensitive and environmentally friendly alternative to the large-scale open-cast gold mining project promoted by a Canadian-based company. In 2013, the organisation, together the European Investment Bank Institute, listed Rosia Montana among The 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe.

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