News

A new analysis by UNESCO and World Resources Institute (WRI) reveals that 73% of World Heritage sites are highly exposed to water-related hazards, such as drought, water stress, or riverine and coastal flooding. Strengthening water stewardship is essential to protect these sites and the communities and ecosystems they sustain. A Precious Resource Under Growing Threat Water-related ...

UNESCO World Heritage Centre has launched a groundbreaking new report Climate Change in Mediterranean World Heritage Cities during a high-level online event attended by over 140 participants from international organisations, national authorities, academia, and civil society. The report addresses the intersection of three important concerns around impacts of climate change on cultural ...

First capacity-building workshop held as part of the Communities for Heritage project in Cuba. As part of the regional project “Latin America and the Caribbean: Strengthening capacities for resilient communities through sustainable tourism and heritage safeguarding,” UNESCO held the workshop “Communities for Heritage: Heritage Safeguarding and Sustainable Tourism” in the historic center of ...

In an update to the joint UNESCO-WRI-IUCN report “World Heritage forests: carbon sinks under pressure”, new data reveals that fires have accounted for approximately 75% of tree cover loss in World Heritage sites. Steadily increasing tree cover loss due to fires, fueled by climate change, has led to record high emissions, and threatens the robust carbon sinks of forests in World Heritage ...

The Cultural and Competence Committee at Region Gävleborg, Sweden, has decided to award the 2025 World Heritage Scholarship to Polish playwright and poet Alejandro Radawski. His poetic project connects the World Heritage Site Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland with the Historic Centre of Krakow – and was selected from among 993 applications from 100 countries. “It’s fantastic that the ...

In a landmark move to safeguard its cultural and natural heritage, Nauru held its first national consultation meeting on the World Heritage Convention with the support of UNESCO. A dynamic interactive session on 23 May 2025 brought together national stakeholders and international experts to discuss the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in Nauru. This milestone meeting ...

On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), the UNESCO World Heritage Centre joins the international community in celebrating this milestone in global environmental cooperation. For three decades, AEWA has united efforts to protect migratory waterbirds and their habitats across continents, exemplifying the power ...

UNESCO and Plastic Odyssey have announced a new strategic partnership to address the escalating crisis of plastic pollution threatening marine World Heritage sites. The collaboration was unveiled during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, with the support of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Covering more than 2 million km²—an area comparable to the ...

Nice, France – Thursday, 13 June 2025 – As global leaders gather in Nice for the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), UNESCO is proud to unveil a bold new initiative to strengthen the resilience of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the face of accelerating climate change. MPAs are the cornerstone of ocean conservation, protecting biodiversity, supporting coastal and indigenous ...

UNESCO expresses its grave concern over the increasing threats affecting the World Heritage site ‘Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’, following the attack on 10 June 2025 by the Russian Federation. This damage occurred amidst a surge of attacks on numerous Ukrainian cities, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to cultural and educational ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the selected projects of the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) 2025 Campaign, under the theme of  ‘World Heritage Volunteers 2025 - Working on the Future’. 89 action camp projects will be implemented from April to December 2025 at 82 World Heritage properties and sites on the Tentative Lists, by 70 organizations in 41 countries around the ...

From 26 to 28 May 2025, a landmark workshop was held at UNESCO Headquarters to reshape the engagement of Indigenous Peoples within the framework of the World Heritage Convention. Co-designed and co-led by the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on World Heritage (IIPFWH), together with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee – ICCROM, ...

To enhance the capacity of professionals from the Directorate of Antiquities and Archaeology, Sindh, in safeguarding one of Pakistan’s World Heritage Sites - Historical Monuments at Makli, Thatta, UNESCO organized a three-day workshop from 12 to 14 May 2025 on the effective restoration and conservation techniques for protecting the site. The workshop focused on enhancing the knowledge and ...

World Heritage site managers and archive specialists throughout South-East Asia are benefitting from a series of capstone activities under the “Safeguarding World Heritage Site Archives” JFIT project, developed in collaboration between CLT and CI sectors. Launched in 2023, the project has contributed to conserving important archival collections related to World Heritage by applying global ...

Since 2018, the number of African sites on the World Heritage List has risen from 93 to 108. Today, UNESCO is supporting the remaining 11 non-represented African countries to prepare new nominations while mentoring the next generation of heritage professionals, as highlighted at the International Conference on Cultural Heritage in Africa that took place recently in Kenya. “We need to make ...

On 30 April 2025, managers from the 51 UNESCO World Heritage marine sites convened online with experts from UNESCO to review the results of UNESCO’s pioneering environmental DNA (eDNA) expeditions initiative and to exchange first-hand experiences involving citizen scientists in this world-first effort. UNESCO eDNA expeditions is the first global use case for detecting ocean biodiversity with ...

UNESCO hosted the International Expert Conference on the Sacred City of Anuradhapura at its Headquarters on 1 April 2025, bringing together over 400 in-person and online participants, including international heritage experts, government representatives, religious leaders, and development partners and graced by the presence of H.E. Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Jointly ...

As part of the ongoing process of revising the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (WHCBS), the World Heritage Centre and ICCROM convened a Reference Group meeting on 27 March 2025. This meeting brought together the World Heritage Committee members along with selected stakeholders and capacity-building partners to discuss the current draft of the revised Strategy. It follows earlier ...

UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, 1-8 July 2025 - “World Heritage in an interconnected world: Leveraging digital technologies and innovative approaches” As an integral part of the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, and with the support of the Republic of Bulgaria, the World Heritage Young Professionals Forum 2025 will ...

UNESCO expresses its solidarity with the firefighters and the authorities of the Republic of Korea who have been facing unprecedented fires in recent days. In view of the heavy human toll, the Organisation also extends its most sincere thoughts to the victims and their families. As part of its mandate, UNESCO has been monitoring the damage to heritage and culture. These forest fires have ...