BUSAN, South Korea — The UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed the D-Day landing beaches of Normandy, France, and Greece’s Mount Olympus on Sunday, alongside other significant cultural and natural sites, during its session in Busan.
The committee, convening through Wednesday, also recognized the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, as well as South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape — home to one of the planet’s largest land mammal migrations and the country’s first World Heritage designation.
The French entry encompasses the five Normandy invasion beaches — Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold, and Juno — where over 150,000 Allied troops landed on June 6, 1944, plus the Pointe du Hoc assault site. These locations were pivotal to the campaign that liberated Western Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which evaluates nominations for the committee, noted the sites contain extensive remnants ranging from German fortifications and bomb-scarred terrain to Allied harbor structures and sunken vessels. The council described the landing as an “event widely perceived as having enabled the return of freedom and heralded a lasting peace on the European continent.”
ICOMOS also urged stronger monitoring and preservation efforts, citing threats from tourism, climate change, rising sea levels, and nearby wind farm development.
Ahlem Gharbi, France’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, said the Normandy landings marked a turning point from global conflict toward a postwar order founded on peace and security, adding that the designation carries heightened significance amid escalating international crises.
“It’s probably the greatest amphibious landing there’s ever been. It ought to be remembered for that alone,” historian David Edgerton said in a recent Associated Press interview.
Mount Olympus’ inscription as a mixed cultural and natural heritage site rewards a 12-year effort by Greece. Rising 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from near sea level, the mythical throne of Zeus and home of the 12 Olympian gods also harbors rich biodiversity.
Evangelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus municipality at the mountain’s base, told the AP that World Heritage status “places greater obligations on our part to protect this environment,” citing potential impacts from increased tourism.
“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to safeguarding Mount Olympus for the benefit of present and future generations,” said Georgios Koumoutsakos, Greece’s delegate to UNESCO. “As Greek mythology wisely reminds us, it is always best to remain on good terms with gods.”
The designated Japanese locations in Nara Prefecture cover 19 archaeological sites from the 6th- to 8th-century capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, where Japan established its first centralized state modeled on Chinese systems. The sites preserve largely buried remains of royal palaces, government offices, Buddhist temples, and tombs that influenced the later capitals of Nara and Kyoto.
Japanese Vice Culture Minister Shigeki Kobayashi thanked the committee for the inscription and affirmed Japan’s commitment to “transmitting this valuable property to future generations.” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a Nara native, posted on X that she hopes the designation will boost tourism to the area.
Yoshiyuki Aihara, an archaeology professor at Nara University, told the AP the sites are significant because they illustrate how Japan’s ancient state formed through influences from China and the Korean Peninsula.
“If you dig underneath these rice paddies about 1 meter, you start finding a stretch of ruins in this area, though that’s not easy for ordinary visitors to understand,” said Aihara, who continues excavation work at the site.
South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo site encompasses vast wetlands, floodplains, and savannas shaped by seasonal rainfall and flood dynamics. An estimated 6 million white-eared kob, tiang, and Mongalla gazelles traverse the landscape in response to changing environmental conditions.
The area also provides habitat for elephants, lions, cheetahs, and other wildlife while supporting various ethnic communities that have lived by herding, farming, and fishing for centuries, according to UNESCO.
AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed from Tokyo.
