Citizens’ demos, pressure and ultimatums from the UN cultural protectors have hardly shown any success: Venice cannot get cruise ships and mass tourism under control. Unesco is now losing patience.
Venice – The reputation is ruined, tourists avoid the city: This is what the future of Venice could look like if Unesco added the romantic northern Italian lagoon city to the negative list for endangered world heritage because of the many cruise giants.
This is what Unesco experts suggest. The United Nations cultural authority is due to make a decision on this from mid-July.
In their study, the UN experts pass harsh judgment on Italy’s attempts to curb the damage caused by large ships and the increase in visitor numbers to Venice. The government in Rome responded on Monday evening with an excited appeal that they now want to quickly remedy the situation.
“That would be a very serious matter for our country,” wrote Italy’s Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini. “The time to hesitate is over.” The battle to preserve the city of St. Mark’s Square and the gondolas has been raging for many years.
Politics in Rome, the Veneto region and the city are in a constant tug-of-war with citizens’ initiatives and business to find the right course. Venice and its lagoon have been Unesco World Heritage since 1987. The label can be used well for tourism for income from the local economy.
According to information from the Ansa news agency, if Unesco takes its threat seriously, Italy would be asked to draw up a new action plan and submit a report on the implementation by February 2022. The UN agency’s vote could fall between July 16 and 31. A few years ago there were even considerations to withdraw the world heritage title from the city in the sea, the “Serenissima” (the “most serene”).
In Venice, amid loud protests from many citizens, a large cruise ship cast off again at the beginning of June after a good one and a half year corona break. Among other things, the movement “No Grandi Navi” (No Big Ships) called for demos. Actually, Rome had decided by decree at the beginning of April to collect ideas to keep the ship giants out of the lagoon. Many saw this as a ban on ships over 40,000 gross tons. You shouldn’t drive past St. Mark’s Square anymore. But it wasn’t like that.
And the search for a solution for cruise ships is faltering. According to media reports, a transition period with a landing stage in the mainland industrial port of Marghera is planned. And later a large, expensive new port facility at sea.
“The industrial port of Marghera is part of the lagoon. Even if the cruise ships dock there, the lagoon will continue to be destroyed, ”said German author Petra Reski, who lives in Venice, on Tuesday. “It’s about the water pressure that damages the foundations of the city, it’s about fine dust, it’s about other environmental damage caused by shipping.” She has repeatedly expressed herself critically about the mass influx. “The cruise tourists do not sleep in the city and spend little money there, they also rarely eat there.”
The city’s statistics show that the number of visitor arrivals climbed from around 3.4 million in 2009 to 5.5 million in the pre-pandemic year 2019. What if Venice were to make it onto the Unesco Red List – some call it a Black List? “That would be a slap in the face for everyone responsible here,” says Reski (“When I fell into the Grand Canal”).
In any case, the Unesco experts write in their analysis that the visitor boom combined with the decline of the local population and fundamental deficits in politics at various levels have led to a “considerable loss of historical authenticity” in Venice. Climate change is also a cause for concern. All of these factors “justify inclusion on the list of endangered world heritage”.
According to the information, the UN organization also recommended putting the Great Barrier Reef on the list of endangered world natural heritage sites in the draft. The Australian government protested against this on Tuesday. dpa
