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Firefighters have been struggling since last weekend to prevent a fire from spreading into Garajonay National Park, situated in the middle of the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands archipelago. The blaze, which may have been started accidentally by a farmer clearing his land, had already destroyed 700 hectares (1,750 acres) of farmland and woods. On Monday night the fire had reached ...

The sixth episode in the animated series Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures is now available, and focuses on the plight of mountain gorillas and other threatened species in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The mountain gorillas are a flagship species of Virunga National Park, a World Heritage site since 1979. Due to armed conflict and ...

Training World Heritage site managers is one of the most valuable investments in heritage conservation, particularly as these sites confront the challenges of increasing flows of tourism and diminishing flows of international assistance for conservation and management. This is why UNESCO's World Heritage Centre has joined forces - for the third year running - in an innovative ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today voiced concern about damage caused to the Castello di Moncalieri, in the Italian Province of Turin, inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1997. A fire broke out on 5 April causing severe damage to the royal apartments and to several floors in one of the watchtowers of the building, a former residence of the House of Savoy. "I ...

[in French only] Actualités sur l'avancement des projets CFU : Le Comité mixte (CMC) de la Convention FRANCE-UNESCO a eu lieu le 28 mars 2008 à l'UNESCO. Paris, France : L'oeuvre architecturale et urbaine de Le Corbusier. Conférence de presse. 30 janvier 2008. FOCUS ON « Niger-Loire : Gouvernance et Culture ». Projet européen. Paris, ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, today expressed his deep regret at the destruction of Québec’s ancient drill hall, a landmark adjacent to the Historic District of Old Québec, which was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1985. “I deeply regret the destruction of this important landmark,” said the Director-General. “It is particularly sad that this proud testimony ...

On 23 February 2008, 40 representatives of 26 Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from Italy, Germany; Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands met to launch the CIVILSCAPE network. This network of NGOs has been founded to facilitate and encourage people to connect to their landscape and feel responsibility for it. CIVILSCAPE's objective is to support the Florence ...