Armenia’s new nomination, “Areni-1 Cave: Prehistoric Life and Winemaking in the Arpa River Valley,” has been approved for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List. Armenia is participating in the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan as a country elected to the committee for the first time.

The nomination was prepared under an earlier memorandum of cooperation between Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Areni-1 Cave Research Foundation and the Armenian Enotourism Council public organization. The Armenian Enotourism Council financed the submission, making the initiative another successful example of public-private cooperation.

Armenia’s delegation includes Harutyun Vanyan, head of the Department for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, as well as five national experts. Armenia’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO Aram Hakobyan heads the delegation.

The newly registered nomination, along with all Armenian submissions added to the list in previous years, is available on UNESCO’s official website.

Through consistent work over the past three years, Armenia has added four more nominations to the four entries placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Tentative List in 1995.