2412 news
Monday, 14 April 2014
This manual provides guidance for States Parties and all those involved in the care of World Heritage cultural properties on how to comply with the requirements of the World Heritage Convention. It also aims to help States Parties to ensure that heritage has a dynamic role in society and harnesses, but also delivers to others, the mutual benefits that such a role can create. The English ...
1 min read
Monday, 14 April 2014
Launched on 14 March 2014 in partnership with UNESCO, the rehabilitation work carried out on Sheik Baber Baba Idjé and Sheik Mahamane Al Fullani mausoleums of Timbuktu was completed this week.
Mausoleums, adjacent to the west side of the Djingareyber Mosque, had been razed to the ground by armed rebel groups on 10 July 2012.
Their reconstruction was thus carried out along the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
UNESCO has announced the renewal of its partnership agreement with OUR PLACE Publishing Ltd. The New Zealand-based company will continue its mission to photograph and promote the sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Our Place has been documenting World Heritage sites around the globe since first partnering with UNESCO in 2007. So far, Our Place has documented over 360 sites in more ...
1 min read
Monday, 24 March 2014
On 24 March, the UNESCO Director-General opened an International Conference in Bergen, Norway, on the UNESCO 1972, 2003 and 2005 conventions, entitled “Synergies for Development -- Using natural and cultural heritage in sustainable development.”
The Conference is organized by the University of Bergen, in cooperation with the National Commission of Norway for UNESCO, the City of Bergen, the ...
2 min read
Friday, 21 March 2014
The URHC project team invites young filmmakers and urban heritage lovers aged between 18 and 30 years to produce a video of 5 minutes or less, expressing their vision of Historic Cairo.
How do you see Historic Cairo heritage? Show us your vision of the historic soul of the Egyptian capital and of its future.Your video could win the opportunity to represent the image of Historic ...
1 min read
Friday, 14 March 2014
Residents of Timbuktu today launched the reconstruction of World Heritage mausoleums damaged by the armed extremists who occupied the north and centre of Mali in 2012.
During the occupation, the extremists began to destroy the mausoleums - important edifices that bear witness to the golden age of Timbuktu as an economic, intellectual and spiritual centre in the 15th and 16th centuries. These ...
2 min read
Monday, 3 March 2014
Today, we celebrate the first World Wildlife Day, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly. Since time immemorial, humanity has marvelled at the wild animals with which we co-exist and on which we depend. Prehistoric peoples have depicted wildlife through rock art and engravings, many of which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. UNESCO’s global network of World Heritage sites ...
1 min read
Thursday, 27 February 2014
The third edition of The World’s Heritage is available now, published by UNESCO Publishing and Collins. Featuring all 981 entries on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with all the new sites inscribed onto the list by the World Heritage Committee in 2013.
With only the world’s most spectacular and extraordinary sites making it on to the list, The World’s Heritage (third edition) is a beautiful ...
1 min read
Monday, 24 February 2014
On 20 February 2014 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, a discussion on the requirements of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was organized jointly with the Senate of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the UNESCO Tashkent Office. Mr Sodik Salikhovich Safoev, Head of the Committee on International Relations of the Senate of Oliy Majlis (Parliament) of the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 20 February 2014
In the face of a deteriorating situation inside Syria, the UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, made the following statement :
"The situation in Syria is deteriorating at a rapid pace with incalculable human suffering and loss. Syria’s unique cultural heritage is also subject to tremendous destruction from the conflict. To date, three UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- Palmyra, the Crac ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
Managers of natural World Heritage sites in Africa met with national coordinators of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Small Grants Programme from several African countries in Limbe, Cameroon from 10 to 14 February to discuss how to involve local communities in the conservation of World Heritage sites. This workshop is part of UNESCO’s Africa Nature Programme, which aims to ...
2 min read
Thursday, 13 February 2014
UNESCO, Malian and international experts have completed the first assessment of damage to cultural heritage in Gao, following the occupation by armed groups of parts of northern Mali. Their work addressed both sites and the cultural practices of local people.
“Urgent measures are required to safeguard the Tomb of Askia World Heritage site before the next rainy season in June,” ...
3 min read
Over 3 million USD pledged for the African World Heritage Fund at African Union Head of State Summit
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
On Friday 31 January 2014, UNESCO joined forces with the African Union Commission to raise awareness and funds for the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) during the African Union (AU) Heads of State luncheon at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Participants pledged a total of 3,050,000 USD in support of the AWHF Endowment Fund.
54 Member States of the African Union were invited ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has taken note of information provided by individuals and civil society organizations concerning the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage site, and thanks them for their considerations and concerns.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has received a request from the Australian Government seeking the approval of the World Heritage Committee for a minor ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
The Banc d’Arguin National Park (Mauritania) and The Wadden Sea (Germany /The Netherlands) are the most critical sites for migratory birds on the East Atlantic Flyway and are intimately connected in a unique and fascinating way.
The Wadden Sea provides support to migratory birds as a staging, moulting and wintering area. Every year, approximately 30% of the estimated 7 million wading birds ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 11 February 2014
The UNESCO/Korea Funds-in-Trust project, “Support for the Preparation of the World Heritage Serial Nomination for the Silk Roads in South Asia,” was officially approved last July 2013 and has now launched operational activities, in the form of consultation and training meetings, both in Nepal and Bhutan in October and November 2013, respectively.
This undertaking will highlight a ...
2 min read
Friday, 7 February 2014
The Regional Secretariat Northwest Europe of the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC), one of the organization’s 8 regional secretariats, has recently published a position paper on “Safeguarding and Further Developing World Heritage Cities”.
Based on the experiences of its member cities, the paper addresses the challenges and experimented hands-on solutions to ...
Monday, 3 February 2014
UNESCO has welcomed confirmation from French-based oil and gas corporation Total that it will refrain from prospecting or exploiting oil and gas in natural sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, saying this was an encouraging sign for World Heritage conservation.
In a letter sent earlier this month to UNESCO, Total’s Directeur délégué, Relations avec les ONG et la Société civile (Vice ...
1 min read
Friday, 31 January 2014
The World Heritage Committee, at its last meeting in June 2013, expressed concern for the Great Barrier Reef and requested Australia ensure that the property remains well protected.
We received a report on the state of conservation from the Australian government this week. We are currently reviewing this report and all other available information regarding developments concerning the ...
Friday, 24 January 2014
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today expressed grave concern about the damage to Egypt’s Museum of Islamic Art, following the reported explosion of a car near the Police Security Directorate, which is located at Port Said Street in Cairo, in front of the main entrance of the Museum.
“I firmly condemn this attack and the destruction it has caused to the ...
1 min read
Friday, 20 December 2013
The millennial temples of Angkor with their monumental architecture, infinitely fine bas-reliefs, enduring spiritual significance and complex irrigation system constitute one of the most impressive success stories of the World Heritage Convention.
The symbol of a whole nation, the 400km2 site lay fallow in the early 1990s. While monks continued to pray at many temples in the site, ...
4 min read
Friday, 20 December 2013
Two World Heritage sites in Azerbaijan and three in Belgium have been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which held its eighth meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 18-19 December 2013. The properties, which have been granted this status, are the Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah’s Palace and ...
1 min read
Friday, 20 December 2013
Happy New Year from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)World Heritage fosters sustainable development. For SIDS, sustainable development is not a choice, but a question of survival.-->
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
The proceedings of the International Colloquium on the conservation of World Heritage Earthen Architecture have been published in the latest edition of the UNESCO World Heritage Paper Series: Earthen Architecture in Today’s World, thanks to the generous support of the Italian Funds in Trust to UNESCO.
The Colloquium took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 17 and 18 December 2012 - the ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
The World Heritage site in Bamiyan has received further support today with the Government of the Republic of Korea committing to provide US$5.4 to build a museum and cultural centre. The signing of the agreement saw the participation of H.E. Dr. Sayed Makhdoum Raheen, Minister of Information and Culture, H.E. Mr. Cha Youngcheol, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Afghanistan, and Mr. ...
3 min read
Monday, 16 December 2013
UNESCO dispatched an expert mission to the Philippines from 4 to 11 December following the massive earthquake and powerful typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which successively struck the central region of the country in October and early November 2013. The goal of the mission was to assist the Government and people of the Philippines in assessing the impact of the disasters on immovable, movable, and ...
1 min read
Thursday, 12 December 2013
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic Corporation have released the 2014 World Heritage calendar. Featuring stunning photographs of World Heritage sites from around the world, this popular calendar can be used in paper, online and tablet app versions.
UNESCO and Panasonic have been creating wall calendars since 1995 and a web version since 2010. The wall calendar includes brief ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 11 December 2013
Ádám Riba, from Hungary, the laureate of this year’s Panasonic Eco Picture Diary award, was one of the 28 children from 11 countries who were given a three-day trip to Paris and a visit to UNESCO for their participation in the Eco Picture Diary on 5 December.
Three-hundred thousand children from all over the world took part in the contest which requires children ...
1 min read
Friday, 6 December 2013
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today paid tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday night, 5 December.
“Nelson Mandela was truly a giant among men,” Irina Bokova said. “He not only changed South Africa’s history, he changed the world and made it a better place. He taught us all a lesson on the power of peace and reconciliation; the importance of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Available for iPad, Android and Kindle Fire tablets, this new app allows you to download World Heritage magazine.
Lavishly illustrated, and published quarterly since 1996 in English, French and Spanish, World Heritage is UNESCO’s official publication devoted to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List and their conservation. With the app, not only can you read exclusive articles ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Published on the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, this thematic collection of case studies provides a thorough understanding of World Heritage sites and their Outstanding Universal Value in the context of sustainable development. It is now available in French and Korean versions.
The case studies describe twenty-six thematically, typologically and regionally diverse World ...
1 min read
Monday, 2 December 2013
The 24 members of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will meet in Baku (Azerbaijan) from 2 to 7 December 2013 for the eighth ordinary session to review the progress made by the States Parties on the legal, regulatory and institutional measures taken to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage in their countries. Over ...
2 min read
Monday, 2 December 2013
Are you a youth organization and want to sensitize young people about the value of World Heritage sites? Or are you an NGO and wish to organize an action camp to preserve and promote a World Heritage site, with young international volunteers? Here is a way to do so!
We are pleased to announce the call for proposals for the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) 2014. This year the campaign will be ...
2 min read
Monday, 2 December 2013
A massive earthquake and powerful typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) successively struck central Philippines in October and early November 2013, causing catastrophic destruction and human loss. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has expressed its deepest sympathy to the Government and people of the Philippines for their tragic losses, and conveyed its commitment to support their recovery ...
1 min read
Friday, 29 November 2013
On 27 November, Swiss watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre, a partner of the World Heritage Centre, donated 30,000 Euros for the preservation of Cocos Island National Park.
This World Heritage marine site is located 550 km off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and is the only island in the tropical eastern Pacific with a tropical rainforest. The donation will be used to improve the conditions ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
UNWTO is the specialized agency of the United Nations in charge of promoting a responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
A new memorandum of Understanding was signed by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, in the margins of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination in New York. The Agreement provides a framework for ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
On 19 November, representatives of the 190 States Parties to the 1972 World Heritage Convention elected 12 new members to the 21-member intergovernmental Committee in charge of managing UNESCO’s World Heritage List and implementing the Convention.
The new members of the World Heritage Committee, elected for four years, are: Croatia, Finland, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, ...
1 min read
Monday, 18 November 2013
Celebrating 40 years of the World Heritage Convention, the proceedings of the Closing Event of the Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, has been published. This electronic publication provides the vivid record of the three-day landmark event, which was organized jointly by the Government of Japan and UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in Kyoto, Japan, 6-8 November ...
1 min read
Saturday, 16 November 2013
This manual provides guidance for States Parties and all those involved in the care of World Heritage cultural properties on how to comply with the requirements of the World Heritage Convention. It also aims to help States Parties to ensure that heritage has a dynamic role in society and harnesses, but also delivers to others, the mutual benefits that such a role can create.
Managing ...
2 min read
Saturday, 16 November 2013
The significant number of reports prepared by UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee represents an exceptional documentation on conservation issues, one of the most comprehensive monitoring systems of any international conventions, through a global network of hundreds of sites.
The Information System is a comprehensive database on the state of conservation of World ...
1 min read
Monday, 28 October 2013
The Atlas by Collins app can be downloaded for free on Tuesday, October 29th. The app comes with one globe pre-installed and includes 10 other globes that can be downloaded. The free download is available to celebrate the launch of the World Heritage globe.
With the World Heritage globe:
Discover the locations of all 981 UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Learn about the criteria for ...
1 min read
Monday, 21 October 2013
UNESCO on 14 October delivered a first training course in cultural heritage protection to military, police and civilian staff from Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, France, Romania, Rwanda, Togo and the United Kingdom, who are part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
The session comes in the wake of United Nations Security Council Resolution ...
2 min read
Thursday, 17 October 2013
Managers from 46 marine World Heritage sites will meet in Ajaccio, Corsica, from October 18-20, for the second World Heritage Marine Site Managers’ conference.
The World Heritage Convention was founded in 1972 on the premise that certain places on our planet – cultural or natural -- should be recognized as having “outstanding universal value” and should be safeguarded ...
4 min read
Monday, 30 September 2013
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, deplored the suicide attack that took place on 28 September, near the Djingareyber Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
"I wish to express my solidarity with the people of Mali, the families and especially the community of Timbuktu, for the suicide bombing that brings back such terror and violence by injuring ...
1 min read
Monday, 30 September 2013
On Wednesday, 25 September, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova joined the President of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), Dr. Hans-Martin Hinz, and United States Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Ms Anne Richard, to launch an Emergency Red List of Syrian Cultural Objects at Risk.
The event was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York ...
2 min read
Monday, 23 September 2013
A joint publication of UNESCO and the Paris-based NGO Oriental Cultural Heritage Sites Protection Alliance, Lumbini, Birthplace of Buddha is a novel approach at encapsulating this site’s timeless essence. Eight photographers – three Nepali and five from around the world – used their unique vision to capture the Sacred Garden experience and, in the tradition of ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
The results of the 3rd and 4th HERITY Conferences, held in Rome, Italy in December 2010 and 2012, are now available.
The conferences and their conclusions were made possible thanks to contributions from UNESCO-WHC, UN-WTO, ICCROM and HERITY International.
For more information on HERITY, the different conferences and their results, please visit: ...
Friday, 30 August 2013
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today called on all parties involved in the conflict in Syria to safeguard the country’s cultural heritage and take all possible measures to avoid further destruction. The Director-General’s appeal followed a meeting of experts held at the Organization’s Headquarters today to examine an action plan aimed at preventing ...
2 min read
Monday, 19 August 2013
The World Heritage Centre has learnt with deep sadness of the recent passing away of Professor Walter Santagata, a long-time collaborator of UNESCO and the creator, among many other scientific programmes, of the Turin Category 2 centre for training and research on the economics of World Heritage (ITRECH, 2011).
The establishment of this institution, aimed at exploring the economic dimension ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 August 2013
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site on Tuesday welcomed its 10 millionth visitor since achieving the rare distinction of being designated a World Heritage site.
Visitor N° 10,000,000 was Michelle Miller of Waterloo, Ill. She was accompanied by her mother, Lorraine Novak; daughter Gabrielle Miller; and her daughter’s friend Keira Schmitz. Miller received a personal tour of the site ...
1 min read
Sunday, 18 August 2013
On 10 November 2011 UNESCO’s General Conference adopted the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, six years after the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention adopted Resolution 15GA/7 (in October 2005) that called for the elaboration of a new international standard-setting instrument that would be based on the recognition and guidance of investment in and ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
The Val de Loire World Heritage cultural landscape (France) is organizing a one-day workshop on Economy, Heritage and Landscape, to be held 12th December 2013 in Tours.
The workshop will focus mainly on policies and politics, and assessing the economic, environmental and cultural current and future returns on investments in the economic, landscape and heritage spheres. Discussions ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
New report on lessons learned to engage local communities in the Conservation of World Heritage sites launched during the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee
The role of local communities in ensuring that World Heritage contributes to sustainable development was chosen by the World Heritage Committee as the central theme for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Convention ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
The Africa Nature risk preparedness workshop took place from the 20th-25th May 2013 at the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. Organized by African World Heritage Fund with the support of the Government of South Africa, this workshop aimed at English-speaking African countries. It gathered 14 site managers from natural World Heritage Sites in Ethiopia, Kenya, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Given the current rate of poaching, children from West or Central Africa will one day speak of elephants and rhinoceros as we speak of mammoths: as magnificent creatures belonging to the past.
Over recent years, the massacre of wild species has reached an industrial scale, in particular the poaching of animals for their ivory. In Gabon alone, some 11,000 elephants have been killed illegally ...
4 min read
Friday, 26 July 2013
For the first time, the Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems brought together all the local communities actively involved in the management of this exceptional marine World Heritage site from 5 to 6 July. The local management committees are unique in their endeavor to include the local population in the management of the lagoons in a very comprehensive ...
1 min read
Thursday, 18 July 2013
H.E. Gürcan Balik, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Turkey to UNESCO, and Kishore Rao, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, on 17 July signed a Plan of Operations for a $1.2 million project to safeguard the Turkish World Heritage site of Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia. H. E. Mr Isao Kiso, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Japan was also ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has expressed deep shock at news of further destruction to cultural heritage in Syria, and particularly following the publication of media reports and images depicting damage to the Crac des Chevaliers, one of Syria’s World Heritage sites. These two castles are outstanding examples of the region’s fortified architecture developed ...
2 min read
Monday, 15 July 2013
The French Grand Sites Network and its International Training and Exchange Centre for Francophone Heritage Sites Managers organized recently an “Exchange Workshop on management and valorization of paleo-metallurgical sites”. From the 20th to the 24th of May 2013, this workshop gathered sixteen managers of patrimonial sites and paleo-metallurgical experts of Western Africa and ...
1 min read
Monday, 15 July 2013
On 6th May 2013, the creation of a “Rivers and heritage” UNESCO Chair was approved by UNESCO.
This project stems from a partnership between the University François Rabelais in Tours (France), the University of Angers (France) and the Mission Val de Loire which is the management body of the Val de Loire site World Heritage site. The creation of a UNESCO chair is part of the ...
2 min read
Sunday, 7 July 2013
New excavations within the Maya Devi Temple of Buddha’s birthplace in Lumbini, Nepal, have revealed evidence of a series of shrines extending the history of the site to a much earlier date than previously known.
Until now, the earliest Buddhist temples have been attributed to Emperor Ashoka, who in the 3rd century BC spread Buddhism across the region, as evidenced by his Pillar and ...
2 min read
Friday, 28 June 2013
Some 500 of the 1400 participants of the 37th session of the World Heritage Committee made the journey from Phnom Penh to Siam Reap and visited the Terrace of the Elephants at Angkor Thom ahead of the closing ceremony of the event.
The stone elephants that flank the impressive platform built some eight centuries ago by Angkor's King Jayavarman VII for public ceremonies were surrounded by ...
1 min read
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Two new sites and one extension to a Polish site were inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on Sunday afternoon, bringing to 19 the total number of sites added to the List during the 37th session taking place in Phnom Penh.
The latest inscriptions are:
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, (Germany)
Descending a long hill dominated by a giant statue of Hercules, the monumental water ...
4 min read
My Son, Viet Nam: Director-General Celebrates Restoration of World Heritage Champa Kingdom Monuments
Sunday, 23 June 2013
After 16 years of excavation and restoration work, a group of tower temples and monuments belonging to the My Son Sanctuary, once the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom, were inaugurated by the Director-General with Vietnamese authorities and the Ambassador of Italy to Viet Nam on 22 June.
Under steady rainfall, dancers and musicians lined the path leading through lush ...
2 min read
Sunday, 23 June 2013
The World Heritage Committee inscribed the following three sites on Sunday morning:
Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora (Ukraine).
The site features the remains of a city founded by Dorian Greeks in the 5th century BC on the northern shores of the Black Sea. It encompasses six component sites with urban remains and agricultural lands divided into several hundreds of chora, ...
3 min read
Saturday, 22 June 2013
The World Heritage Committee has inscribed a site of rice terraces in Yunnan (China) and an extension to the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park which is now known as the mixed cultural and natural Maloti Drakensberg Tranboundary World Heritage Site (Lesotho and South Africa).
Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China
The Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China covers ...
2 min read
Saturday, 22 June 2013
Qatar and Fiji had their first World Heritage sites inscribed during the afternoon session of the World Heritage Committee on Saturday, as the intergovernmental body added six properties to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Fujisan, Sacred Place and Source of Artistic Inspiration (Japan)
The beauty of the solitary, often snow-capped, stratovolcano, known around the world as Mount Fuji, ...
5 min read
