UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has officially added Greece’s Mount Olympus, Japan’s ancient capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, and South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape to its World Heritage List during its meeting in Busan, South Korea.
The decision marks a historic milestone for South Sudan, which secured its first-ever World Heritage Site.
Greece’s successful nomination concluded a 12-year effort to recognize Mount Olympus as a mixed cultural and natural site. Rising 2,918 meters, the peak is famous in mythology as the home of Zeus and the Olympian gods, while also serving as a critical biodiversity hub.
Evangelos Geroliolios, mayor of the nearby municipality of Dion-Olympus, acknowledged that the new status brings heightened responsibility amid expected growth in tourism, noting that the inscription:
”places greater obligations on our part to protect this environment,”
Georgios Koumoutsakos, Greece’s delegate to UNESCO, reaffirmed the nation’s pledge to safeguard the peak.
”We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to safeguarding Mount Olympus for the benefit of present and future generations,” Koumoutsakos said. “As Greek mythology wisely reminds us, it is always best to remain on good terms with gods.”
Japan earned World Heritage status for 19 archaeological sites in Nara Prefecture associated with the 6th- to 8th-century capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara. The sites contain buried remains of palaces, temples, and tombs that illustrate the birth of Japan’s first centralized state under Chinese administrative influence.
Japanese Culture Minister Kobayashi Shigeki stated that Japan remains committed to:
”transmitting this valuable property to the future generations.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi welcomed the recognition online, expressing hope it will draw more tourists to her home prefecture. Nara University archaeology professor Yoshiyuki Aihara, who actively excavates the area, highlighted the region’s connection to ancient Asian trade and culture.
”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,” Aihara explained.
Additionally, South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape was added to the list.
The vast ecosystem of wetlands and savannas supports the movement of roughly six million antelope—including white-eared kob, tiang, and Mongalla gazelles—making it one of the largest land mammal migrations on Earth alongside habitats for lions, elephants, and local farming communities.