UNESCO adds São Tomé and Príncipe plantations to World Heritage list amid global site announcements

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the six historic Portuguese colonial plantations on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe as World Heritage sites during its annual World Heritage Committee meeting in Busan, South Korea. The sites – Sundy, Monte Café, Água Izé, Belo Monte, Diogo Vaz and São João – illustrate the large‑scale coffee and cocoa agro‑industrial system that once made the archipelago a leading global producer. Sundy is also noted for the 1919 solar‑eclipse experiment by British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington that confirmed Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

In the same session, UNESCO added more than a dozen other locations worldwide, primarily in Asia, but also in Africa, Europe and the Americas. New entries include Thailand’s Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan temple, Mongolia’s Xiongnu funerary complexes, Kazakhstan’s underground‑mosque ensemble in Mangystau, China’s Jingdezhen porcelain industry, India’s Sarnath archaeological site, the historic medinas of the Comoros sultanates, Tunisia’s coastal village of Sidi Bou Said, Denmark’s Limfjord fish‑fossil site, the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge in the United States, and the Wadi Wurayah reserve in the United Arab Emirates. These designations aim to preserve cultural and natural heritage and promote sustainable tourism.