Heritage experts started their meeting in Arusha today Monday (December 12th) amid reports that more sites have been identified for elevation in Tanzania.
These include Gombe National Park, the home of chimpanzees in Kigoma region and the long slave trade route from Bagamoyo to Kigoma
The sites are seen to have outstanding universal value, according to the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO).
If approved for elevation as world heritage properties, they will add to the seven sites, mainly the national parks and historical ruins, already elevated to that status.
"Studies are being finalized to see if the proposed sites meet the benchmarks", said Kevin Robert, an scientific expert with UNESCO country office in Dar es Salaam.
He added that one of the benchmarks was that there should be no conflict with the local communities on ownership of the sites.
Once cleared, the proposed areas would be preserved and protected for tourism and research purposes "for the global community".
Among the proposed sites for elevation to the world heritage list is Gombe National Park in Kigoma region, the home of the chimpanzees.
Others are the long slave and ivory trade route from Bagamoyo to Kigoma and Jozani-Chwaka nature reserve in Zanzibar.
Yet to be included is Oldonyo Murwak, a famous site for the Maasai rituals in Hai district, Kilimanjaro region.
The Amani Nature Reserve in Tanga region is among the areas being considered for elevation to the status for its ecological niche.
Mr. Robert said it was the prerogative of the government to elevate the sites for protection "with technical support from Unesco".
He added; "Unesco sets out the duties of each country's governments to identify potential sites and to protect and preserve them".
Tanzania is a signatory to the 1972 World Heritage Convention whose primary goal is to conserve natural and cultural properties.
Tanzania, he further said, was one of the earliest states to ratify the convention "because we have a wide variety of world heritage properties".
The current such sites include three national parks; Serengeti, Kilimanjaro and Nyerere and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA).
Others are the Zanzibar Stone Town, the Kilwa Kisiwani-Songo Mnara ruins and the Kondoa Rock Art in Dodoma region.
The two day conference dubbed 'Empowering African Heritage Professionals' is taking place at Mt. Meru Hotel in the city.
"The conference will take stock of the achievements since the UNESCO Convention came into force", said Joshua Mwankunda, a senior official of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA).
NCAA, a multi-use conservation area in Arusha region, is rich in both natural and cultural resources of outstanding global value.
These include its famous craters and crater lakes,the Olduvai Gorge and Laetoli footprints and highland forests.
The conservation area is also famous for its geological and physiographical features, now being promoted under the Geoparks project.
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