The Dubai Creek is one of the 30 sites nominated for inclusion in the Unesco World Heritage List, at the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee being held in Bahrain, according to a tweet by the Dubai Media Office.

Inuit hunting grounds, World War I cemeteries, art deco heritage in Mumbai and Italy's Prosecco hills are among 30 hopefuls in the running to join Unesco's world famous list.

Delegates at the annual gathering will also debate adding locations such as Kenya's Lake Turkana and Nepal's Kathmandu Valley to those sites considered "in danger", but could remove the Belize Barrier Reef from the risk list due to an oil activity ban.

The roster of contenders for this year's new additions spans the globe, from the Aasivissuit and Nipisat hunting grounds in the frozen expanses of Greenland to the sun-scorched Al-Ahsa Oasis in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

Eye-catching - or lip-smacking - sites among them include the Prosecco Hills in northwest Italy, as well as the town of Zatec in the Czech Republic renowned for its hops. In India, a collection of Victorian and Art Deco landmarks in bustling Mumbai is being billed as "the largest such conglomeration of these two genres of architecture in the world".

The push to include funeral and memorial sites in Belgium and France for those killed on World War I's Western Front has sparked debate over how to treat locations associated with recent conflicts.

In an April report, the International Council on Monuments and Sites - which advises UNESCO - called for a further "period of reflection", despite locations including Hiroshima and Auschwitz already being on the list.

Getting on the World Heritage List could be a major boon for the nominees, as being deemed of "outstanding universal value" can boost tourist numbers and bring in funding. But the committee also considers whether to remove locations from the list that do not do enough to protect their heritage... although such moves are rare.

SOURCE : KHALEEJTIMES