Introduction To UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Introduction To UNESCO World Heritage Sites

by Tyler Ramos

In 1945, the United Nations created UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Among other things, this agency is tasked to identify UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It also provides publicity and some support for these sites. Panama has five of these sites. This is a brief introduction to some of them.

UNESCO selects locations to be designated as World Heritage Sites based on either their cultural or natural significance, or both. Panama has a total of 5 recognized sites. It has been blessed with not only natural points of interest, but with cultural and historical ones as well.

There are 890 recognized sites throughout the world to date, so selection is considered to be very significant. UNESCO provides some support to the Sites simply from the publicity of being on the list. It also provides some funding for conservation efforts at the sites.

Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park was recognized in 1983. Not quite the largest national park in the country, it provides some very important wild life habitat. A number of subsistence and other low impact farms surround the park, creating a buffer zone between it and more intensive settlement. Some of the mountains are high enough to have been glaciated in the past. It is a key meeting place for plants and animals of North and South America. About half of the park is in Costa Rica; the two countries cooperate in its management.

Control of the forts went back and forth between the Spanish, the English, and pirates. The forts have been reduced to a state of ruin, but significant pieces are still visible. Restoration and conservation efforts have made this area a prime attraction for tours. Students of military history will find enough evidence in the partial structures and arms remaining to get a feel for the military technology of the day, and possibly the tactics as well.

Darien National Park was added to the list in 1981. It is the largest national park in the country and one of the most important in Central America. It includes an incredible variety of habitats. It is large enough to provide a viable protected habitat for a number of endangered species. Two Indian tribes still live in the Park.

After this, the city was rebuilt in a safer location, where it remains today. The Historic District of Panama, also known as Casco Viejo de Panama, is where the city was rebuilt. It is central to the much larger city that it has become.

Many people perceive Panama as the location of the Canal and not much else. The presence of five World Heritage Sites indicates that this is wrong. There is a lot of potential for tourism here; it is a big part of the economy. It sure looks like an interesting place to explore.



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