Europa Nostra, the European heritage organisation, is warning that the lagoon of Venice is the most endangered heritage site in Europe. At an event in Venice last month, Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank Institute appealed to European, Italian and Venetian governments as well as political and business leaders to come together and protect the site before it is too late. It also called for Venice and its lagoon to be added to Unesco’s World Heritage in Danger list.
Rising sea levels, increasing numbers of tourists, large cruise ships, sea-bed erosion, deeper dredging and the lack of an agreed management plan for Venice are all threatening the city’s preservation.
Speaking at the event, Europa Nostra’s president, the tenor Plácido Domingo, said: “Europa Nostra has come to Venice today to ring the alarm bell and remind the world that Venice cannot survive without its lagoon. Venice was born from the waters. The lagoon not only represents the origin and the past of the historic city, it is also a living organism that makes the city breathe, and so is indispensable for ensuring the future of Venice.”
Anna Somers Cocks, the chief executive of The Art Newspaper and former chairman of Venice in Peril, said: “This identification of Venice as exceptionally at risk reinforces the message given in 2014 by the World Monument Fund when it put the city on its watch list of endangered sites. Unesco is also threatening to add Venice to its World Heritage in Danger roster, so it must be time for the Italian government to begin to take its responsibility for Venice seriously.”
Francesco Bandarin, Unesco’s assistant general-director for culture, confirmed that Unesco is currently preparing a report on Venice for the World Heritage Committee meeting that will take place in Istanbul in July, and that “Unesco takes note with great attention” of Europa Nostra’s decision to declare Venice the most endangered site in Europe.