UNESCO holds 4th legacy forum in Morocco

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is holding in this Moroccan mountain resort, 200 km northeast of Rabat, its 4th forum on "university and legacy" which opened this Monday.

Several international organizations, including the World Bank and the African Development Bank, are represented in the forum.

The event brings together an international network of 225 universities which teach special programs on legacy. The forum's precedent meeting was held in 1998 in Melbourne (Australia)

The UNESCO had also held in Morocco from Nov.30 to Dec.2 the 23rd session of its world heritage committee, chaired by Abdelaziz Touri, an executive at the Moroccan Cultural Affairs Ministry. The UNESCO committee added 48 new historical and natural sites and 4fourendangered sites to the 630 sites on the world heritage list.

The status enhances the value of a site as a tourist destination and ensures that it is protected for future generations.

Out of the 582 sites on the list, 288 monuments are located in Europe and North America and 46 are in Africa.

Arab countries have 51 sites on the list, Asia 106 sites, the Pacific 17, Latin America and the Caribbean 74.

Previously named World Heritage sites include some of the most famous places in the world, including four Moroccan sites, the Acropolis in Greece, the pyramids in Egypt, the Zimbabwe ruins, the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal in India, the Galapago Islands, the Grand Canyon in the US, and the Great Barrier Reef off Australia.