A formal proposal for the vine-covered hills around the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, in the Veneto region, to be recognised as an outstanding landscape is to be sent to Unesco in Paris.

The application was approved this week by Maurizio Martina, the agriculture minister. “We support the candidacy because it expresses the ability of prosecco to add value to an agricultural region and promote Italy in the world,” the minister said. “One of the most outstanding elements is the harmony between human endeavor and the natural environment.”

Luca Zaia, the governor of the Veneto region, first put forward the proposal in 2009 but it has taken eight years to compile the dossier for Unesco recognition. “This is a historic day,” he said.

If the bid is successful, it would cement Italy’s status as the country with the most World Heritage sites – it currently has 51, closely followed by China, Spain and France.  Britain has 30. Italy’s World Heritage sites include the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Basilica of St Francis at Assisi in Umbria, the Amalfi Coast and the historic centres of Rome, Naples, Florence and Siena.

World Heritage status would also attract more visitors to the region, luring them away from better-known wine areas such as Tuscany and the Langhe region in Piedmont.

Read more at source: The Telegraph