Good news for the preservation of ancient astronomical sites - a new category of World Heritage sites is being created, specifically for astronomy.
The World Heritage List is run by UNESCO, and includes cultural sites that are "of outstanding significance to humankind" - anything from a lake to a city - which the international community then works to promote and protect. So far there are 878 architectural and natural properties on the list, including the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and the Mayan city of Chichen Itza in Mexico.
There will four categories of astronomy sites eligible for the list. The first is for properties that are strongly connected with the history of modern astronomy. The Lowell Observatory in Arizona might be a contender here - it was constructed in 1896, and many major discoveries have been made there, including that of Pluto in 1930. The other categories are ancient observatories and instruments (such as the Beijing Ancient Observatory), properties whose design or landscape setting have significance in relation to celestial objects or events (such as Stonehenge, already on the World Heritage List), and representations of the sky and/or celestial bodies and events (such as Chankillo in Peru - see the pic, taken by NASA). It's all part of a broader agenda within UNESCO to promote nominations to the list that recognise and celebrate achievements in science.
The next step is to agree on exactly what makes a site of "outstanding universal value", and to hone a list of potential candidates. The International Astronomical Union has just signed an agreement with UNESCO to help them do this, and has set up a working group that will be chaired by Clive Ruggles, who is Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester, UK.
Ruggles says that with the increasing pace of globalisation, it is becoming increasingly urgent to preserve culturally important sites. Asked why astronomy has been singled out, he says: "Every human culture has a sky, and strives to interpret what people perceive there. The understanding they develop inevitably comes to form a vital part of their fundamental knowledge concerning the cosmos and their place within it. Astronomy is not just a modern science but a fundamental reflection of how all people, past and present, understand themselves in relation to the Universe."
I couldn't agree more.