SINGAPORE, April 25 — The International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) recommendation on the Republic’s bid to list the Singapore Botanic Gardens as a Uneco World Heritage site could be out as early as next week.

The recommendation from the non-government organisation to the Unesco World Heritage Committee (WHC) is part of the bid process. Following the recommendation, the WHC will announce its decision in late June or early July.

Speaking at a ceremony awarding the Unesco Asia-Pacific Cultural Heritage Conservation Award to Yuen Hai Ching Temple yesterday, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong said he hoped another Unesco award is on the horizon.

He said: “I feel like a child who has just completed his O-Levels, has studied very hard for it and is now waiting for the results from Icomos, but that’s not the final word. The final word will be at the World Heritage Committee meeting in July. The recommendation will go to the committee and they will make the final decision, but the (Icomos) recommendation obviously is an important part of the process, so we are hopeful and excited about the outcome.”

Icomos may make one of several recommendations to the WHC under three categories: Recommended without reservation, recommended for referral or deferral, or not recommended.

A recommendation without reservation would put the Botanic Gardens in good stead for World Heritage Site status. If recognised, the site must fulfil requirements for future protection and management. A recommendation for referral would mean the Republic may need to submit additional information to the advisory bodies for evaluation. The WHC may still decide to add the Botanic Gardens onto the list after deliberation even if Icomos recommends a referral. In the case of a deferral, the WHC may defer a nomination for more in-depth assessment or study. If Singapore resubmits its nomination, the full evaluation cycle will be one-and-a-half years.

If Icomos does not recommend the Botanic Gardens for World Heritage status, Singapore would not be able to nominate the site again, unless under exceptional circumstances such as new discoveries, scientific information or different criteria not presented in the original nomination.

Singapore submitted its nomination dossier to Unesco in February last year, after a feasibility study was first conducted in 2010. To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of 10 selection criteria. These include exceptional beauty or showing an important exchange of human values over time on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design.

Asked if he was optimistic about Singapore’s chances, Wong said: “We are quite unique in Singapore, we (have) the only gardens like this in the tropics, so the Botanic Gardens is distinctive and unique. There are the gardens that have obtained the Unesco World Heritage site inscription, namely the Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom and the Padua Gardens in Italy, so it has been done before, but none in the tropics and this will be the first time.” — TODAY