Roșia Montană Once Again Imperiled
- Stephanie D. Ortiz
In an unfortunate turn of events, Romania’s new Prime Minister issued a call to withdraw the nomination of Roșia Montană to the World Heritage Tentative List—a nomination that was submitted in early January 2017 under the former PM. Protests against revoking the nomination are being organized this weekend in major cities, including Bucharest, Cluj, and Iasi.
Until recently, the surviving landscape was threatened with almost complete destruction by plans to resume and expand open-pit mining. A joint venture between the Romanian state and a foreign mining company would use cyanide to extract gold from what would become the largest open-pit gold mine in Europe. The Romanian Ministry of Culture’s official application to make the village of Roșia Montană a UNESCO World Heritage Site was seen as a key step in securing protection of the cultural heritage of the Roșia Montană landscape after over a decade of campaigning.
A 2016 World Monuments Watch site, the cultural significance of Roșia Montană’s mining landscape—developed over a period of more than two millennia—is indisputable. We at WMF are deeply saddened and concerned to learn that this heritage is once again imperiled from a rash decision to question the validity of the World Heritage nomination.
We support local advocates’ call to protect the site and encourage others to voice their support by signing the online petition at https://speakout.de-clic.ro/campaigns/64.
Stephanie D. Ortiz
A staff member of WMF since 2011, Stephanie Ortiz currently oversees WMF’s conservation field projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. She completed a Master of Architecture degree with advanced certificates in Heritage Studies, Documentation, and Conservation from the University of Puerto Rico School of Architecture in 2009, and received an MS in Historic Preservation from Pratt Institute in 2011. At WMF, Stephanie has worked with local partner institutions and professionals in a variety of projects around the world. Some of her projects in Latin America and the Caribbean include post disaster recovery projects in Mexico (Archaeological Zone of Monte Albán and Atzompa) and Puerto Rico (Central Aguirre); coordination of international conferences and workshops in Guatemala (International Workshops on Architectural Covers in Archaeological Contexts) and Cuba (Hablemos de la Habana), and advocacy campaigns through the World Monuments Watch.
