PARIS, Nov 15: A Unesco specialist on the cultural heritage of the Arab World is to play a central role at a major international conference being held in Venice on Saturday to be attended by representatives of 170 countries.

The specialist at Unesco’s Paris headquarters, Giovanni Boccardi, says that he plans to remind the assembly that all of the 18 countries that make up the Arab world had signed a convention in 1972 on patrimony requiring them to ensure that their principal cultural sites and landmarks were better protected.

Mr Boccardi says that Arab countries are not doing enough to protect their archeological sites.

Just about every one of the 18 countries which signed the 1972 accord is guilty of letting its treasures deteriorate, depriving posterity of an important part of their cultural heritage.

In the Yemeni village of Zabid, classified as a world heritage landmark in 1988, local authorities have allowed residents to build additional floors on their centuries-old houses, placing in grave peril many of the region’s historic treasures.

But that story ended well, said Boccardi, for Unesco persuaded authorities to have the additions removed, and asked residents who still wanted to build to do so in a new village located on the outskirts of Zabid.

In Mr Boccardi’s eyes, the tourist industry is a culprit, too.

For example, Jordan, where some 70 hotels have been constructed, at Wadi Moussa, the village closest to Petra, increased tourist traffic was gradually robbing the site of its pristine glory.

A further problem is the installation of modern roads and highways, sometimes on the sites of major archeological treasures.