The Dresden Elbe Valley stretches some 18 kilometers from Ubigau Palace to the Elbe River Island UNESCO s World Heritage Committee meeting in this oldest of Canadian cities decided Thursday not to de-list the eastern German city of Dresden from its prestigious list of protected world sites. Tehran, 5 July 2008: QUEBEC CITY (AFP) — UNESCO s World Heritage Committee meeting in this oldest of Canadian cities decided Thursday not to de-list the eastern German city of Dresden from its prestigious list of protected world sites.

But it also vowed to remove the property from its world heritage list next year if construction of a bridge across the city s Elbe Valley -- said to be a blight on the 18th- and 19th- century landscape -- is not reversed.

In a statement, the committee said a reprieve was granted in the hope that the building of a four-lane bridge would cease, and that damage already caused by construction is reversed.

It said it wanted to "give Dresden more time in view of legal proceedings underway in Germany" to stop construction.

However, "if the work on the bridge continues and if the construction works already undertaken are not removed, then the committee at its 33rd session in 2009 will delete this property from the world heritage list," committee chair Christina Cameron told a press conference.

In the interim, the site would remain on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization s so-called danger list, she said.

The construction of the four-lane Forest Castle Bridge began in November last year, after a court dismissed arguments by conservationists that it would pose a threat to rare horseshoe bats that live on the banks of the Elbe.

Residents of the city have mostly been supportive of the project because they believe it will ease traffic congestion.

Thousands have also held weekly protests to try to preserve its beauty and save the city s coveted heritage designation.

"It is a victory for the citizens of Dresden who have been demonstrating every single Monday for the last year," Dresden university architecture professor Ralf Weber told AFP.

The Dresden Elbe Valley stretches some 18 kilometers from Ubigau Palace and Ostrahege fields in the north-west to Pillnitz Place and the Elbe River Island in the south-east.

The property, which was inscribed on the world heritage list in 2004 and marked "in danger" last year, features low meadows, and numerous monuments and parks from the 16th to 20th century.

Source : www.chnpress.com