32nd SESSION OF THE UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE Quebec, 2- 10 July 2008

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, representing 185 signatories of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, took place on 2-10 July 2008 in Quebec City (Canada). The Committee session made several decisions concerning sites from the UNESCO World Heritage List located in Poland. One of the sites that the Committee has been discussing for several years is the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration and death camp (1940-1945) and the state of its vicinity. This time was no such debate was held, but the government of the Republic of Poland was requested to provide information about the preparation and realisation of an administration plan relating to the site and its immediate surrounding. Other issues included the delineation of the boundaries of historical city centres in Warsaw and Cracow, the medieval town of Toruń, the Old Town in Zamość and the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork. In the case of the Białowieska Forest the Committee obligated the Polish and Belarusian sides to organise a mission of experts for the purpose of explaining the boundaries and principles of the protection of this particular site. Information about World Heritage as well as the sessions and decisions of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is available on: http://whc.unesco.org and the website of the National Heritage Board of Poland: http://www.kobidz.p