THE UNESCO World Heritage Centre responded to the presence of blue-green algae in Windermere, their own world heritage site. 

However, it was only to say that they had 'not been informed' about the status of the lake and the issues it has had with algal blooms over the summer.

Blue-green algae blooms are naturally occurring but can be a sign of pollution because of high phosphorus levels in the water. Activist Matt Staniek argues that the 'extent and the abundance' of the blooms have been caused by climate change and by sewage discharge into Windermere 

All of this is news to UNESCO. In a statement, it said: "The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has not been informed about the issue of the presence of blue green algae in Windermere Lake neither by the State Party of the UK nor by any third parties.

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"Should you have further information or documentation on this subject, we would appreciate if you could provide these to UNESCO. This would allow us to further verify the information with the State Party in line with the Operational Guidelines to the World Heritage Convention." 

This is despite Matt Staniek contacting Laura Davies, the UK Ambassador to UNESCO, on Twitter who thanked Matt for 'raising such an important issue.' 

A spokesperson for the Lake District National Park Authority said: “There is no requirement for us to inform UNESCO about blue-green algae in any of the lakes in the National Park. The presence of algae doesn’t impact on the status of the park as a World Heritage Site, as defined by UNESCO’s Statement of Outstanding Universal Values, which recognise the Lake District as a cultural landscape. 

“UNESCO is regularly informed about the status of the English Lake District World Heritage Site through its Local Plan, five year Partnership Plan, Statement of Conservation reports and a global regional periodic report.”

However, Matt said: "Does UNESCO agree with sewage being discharged into Windermere? We do not allow Stonehenge to be covered in sewage. I think they are just scared that they are being called out on it."