UNESCO Develops a Detailed Urban Plan aiming at Protecting the Agricultural Terraces in Battir

In close coordination with partners, UNESCO invests efforts towards the enhancement and revitalization of the three inscribed World Heritage Sites in Palestine: Birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route, Bethlehem (2012), Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines – Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir (2014) and Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town (2017). Particularly, UNESCO designs and implements projects and activities that respond to the numerous challenges emerging in these sites, contributing to their proper conservation and management while sustaining their Outstanding Universal Values (OUV). In May 2021, UNESCO initiated a comprehensive project entitled Detailed Urban Plan and building by laws in Battir and Hussan to develop a conservation and urban plan for parts of the core and buffer zones of the site in Battir. This initiative is implemented through a structured partnership with the concerned national stakeholders mandated to oversee cultural heritage sites in Palestine, namely the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA). The activity comes as a response to recognizing the need of protecting the agricultural terraces in Battir, which is also highlighted in the site’s conservation and management plan, aiming to ensure that any developments in the site will not have an adverse impact on its OUV.