UN-Ecology/Indonesia/Honduras/ UNESCO puts famous rainforest sites on Danger List

Jun 22, 2011, 18:05 GMT

New York - Indonesia's Sumatran rainforest, once celebrated for its biodiversity, has been moved to the endangered list because of illegal logging and poaching, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said Wednesday.

The 2.5-million-hectare tropical rainforest was elevated to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2004. But years of destruction of the rich natural resources, agricultural encroachment and road construction through the site have degraded its original condition.

The World Heritage List includes hundreds of the world's most famous sites in an effort to conserve their historical and cultural treasures. UNESCO periodically reviews the status of those sites and removes those that failed the maintain the original criteria.

UNESCO said the decision to put the Sumatran rainforest on the Danger List would help the Indonesian government focus on efforts to save the tropical site.

Honduras' Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve was put back on the Danger List, where it had previously stood from 1997-2007. UNESCO said the site is inhabited by an indigenous population, who helped preserve their traditional way of life in the rainforest.

The Paris-based agency's World Heritage Committee took the decisions on the sites in Indonesia and Honduras at meetings held this week.

The committee said Honduras requested the danger listing for Rio Platano because of illegal logging, drug trafficking, fishing and land occupation, poaching and the government's reduced capacity to manage the combined threats.

Read more about Honduras

Read more about Indonesia