In recent years, big strides have been made toward protecting bigger shares of the ocean. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 6,97% of the ocean is now covered by marine protected areas. Yet many challenges remain. UNESCO’s World Heritage Marine Programme was invited to participate in the Monaco Blue Initiative to share and update on how the world’s ...

Rubbish and pollution are a problem at many World Heritage sites. Increased tourism means that more people are leaving trash at the world’s most iconic sites, so we need to learn to visit sites without leaving a trace behind. Marine pollution is also a problem at many World Heritage sites, where waste—including plastics—wash up on the beach. Birds, turtles and marine mammals get entangled in ...

18 April 2018 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites with the theme: Heritage for Generations. If our heritage is what we leave behind for future generations, we need to prepare young people to protect it—and the best way is through education. The World Heritage Education Programme gives young people around the world the chance to learn about their heritage, and to be a part of ...

UNESCO and World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) signed an agreement to cooperate by developing activities in order to raise awareness and mobilize young Scouts to participate in World Heritage conservation and promotion. As a main result of this agreement, WOSM produced the “World Scouting-UNESCO World Heritage Recognition Programme Guidelines” in collaboration with the UNESCO ...

Specially conceived for young people between the ages of 18 and 28, #MyAfricanheritage is an Instagram contest aiming to promote the exceptional cultural and natural heritage of the African continent. Each participant will post a photo of an African site inscribed on the World Heritage List along with a brief description of the site’s significance to the participant and his/her personal ...

The Geneva Declaration ‘Human Rights and Culture Heritage: Committed Cities Working Together’ was adopted in Geneva, Switzerland on 26 March 2018, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration aims to clarify cities’ obligations in the area of cultural heritage rehabilitation, particularly in relation to intentionally destroyed cultural heritage. ...

The Kenyan National Commission for UNESCO organized a three-day workshop from 26 to 28 March 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya in order to increase youth engagement in the conservation and promotion of World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage. As a State Party to three important UNESCO Conventions in the field of Culture, Kenya has made the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, today condemed the deadly attack perpetrated on 9 April against the staff of the Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, during which six guards and their driver lost their lives. “I condemn this deadly attack on six guards of the Virunga National Park and their driver. I call on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take all the ...

The conservation of wetlands does not only contribute to the safeguarding of biodiversity, it can also support the safeguarding of their cultural and spiritual values. The workshop “The Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Wetlands Supporting the integration of nature and culture in their governance and management” organised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in ...

The International Meeting of experts on the Conservation and Revitalization of the Kasbah of Algiers, a World Heritage Site, organized by the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO jointly with the Algerian Ministry of Culture, took place from 20 to 23 January 2018 in Algiers, Algeria. It gathered 200 participants, including key actors of the conservation of the Kasbah of Algiers, international ...