Unesco visits Paraty, Ilha Grande, nominated for mixed heritage site

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) conducted a field trip in the city of Paraty and Ilha Grande island in Rio de Janeiro, both of which nominated for mixed heritage site status.

The move, says Marcelo Brito, director for cooperation and development with the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan), is believed to make international experts satisfied.

The city of Paraty is home to major architectural and cultural monuments. – Nietmann Fotografia / All rights reserved.

As it stands today, Brazil has no recognized mixed world heritage site—an area where both cultural and natural features are found in the same territory. The nomination of Paraty and Ilha Grande was accepted by Unesco in March this year. The decision is expected to be made in June next year, when Azerbaijan is slated to host the next Unesco World Heritage Committee.

Marcelo Brito explains that, during the field trip, concluded on Sunday (16), experts compared what had been reported in the nomination dossier with what they could actually observe in loco. This is a crucial stage, he argues, as it will provide the basis for the final decision. “A technical assessment will be made, which will lead to the decision on the project.”

Ilha Grande—part of the Angra dos Reis municipality—and Paraty are located in a region known as Green Coast, in southern Rio de Janeiro state. Included in the dossier are Paraty’s historical city center plus the four environment conservation areas surrounding it—the Serra da Bocaina National Park, the Praia do Sul State Biological Reserve, the Juatinga State Ecologic Reserve, and the Ilha Grande State Park.

“The nomination dossier must include a proposal favoring sustainability-based development, with the generation of employment and income, and respect for cultural diversity. We seek to appreciate the interactions between both natural and cultural dimensions. These ties will be brought under scrutiny as well as the way in which the communities in this territory deal with culture and nature,” Brito said, adding that the fact that Paraty’s historical downtown area has been listed as a heritage site by Iphan will likely help make the nomination successful.

*Tâmara Freire, reporter with Rádio Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, contributed to this article.