News

In June 2022, the Resilient Reefs Initiative was launched in Palau with the appointment of its first Chief Resilience Officer and Resilience Advisor. The Chief Resilience Officer will be tasked with bringing local communities, businesses, NGOs, and tourism operators together in an effort to build an inclusive resilience strategy for this globally outstanding World Heritage coral reef. The ...

Dr Michael Jansen was a scholar and professor in conservation engineering, and the Managing Director of the German University of Technology | GUtech · Urban Planning and Architectural Design in Oman. "We pay tribute to the memory of Michael Jansen and for the immense contribution he made to safeguarding heritage of many countries. He has been involved for decades as expert in heritage ...

With the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a first online workshop on the future UNESCO’s Dive into Heritage platform entitled “Expert Workshop on the Dive into Heritage platform’s scientific content” was organised by UNESCO on the 12th and 13th of July 2022. UNESCO is working on the creation of a new web tool “Dive into Heritage,” a comprehensive platform that will host digital data of ...

On 27 -28 June 2022, UNESCO's World Heritage Centre organized an experts meeting on Modern Heritage of Africa and the 1972 World Heritage Convention, with the aim to integrate the modern heritage concept into World Heritage in the African context and provide a new conceptual understanding from an African perspective. It builds upon the work already done in the Centre regarding Modern Heritage ...

With support from the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust, a hybrid-format Stakeholder Consultation Dialogue “Towards Developing Sustainable Livelihoods in the East Rennell World Heritage Site” was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and UNESCO in Honiara on 31 May 2022. Building on community meetings organised in East Rennell between 28 April and 1 May ...

On 4 July 2022, the Scientific Advisory Board of the environmental DNA initiative convened for the first time, sharing crucial recommendations as UNESCO prepares the global roll-out of the citizen science initiative. The project “Environmental DNA Expeditions in UNESCO World Heritage Marine Sites” is guided by an international Scientific Advisory Board that brings together some of the ...

A series of online workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with ICOMOS to support Iraq in its efforts towards the conservation of World Heritage properties, particularly those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Within the framework of the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust project for 'Strengthening capacities in state of ...

UNESCO Member States are invited to complete the survey to report on their implementation of the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) based on an assessment of the situation for the period 2019-2022.  In 2022, the survey contains two sections: Section A, concerning the implementation of the HUL Recommendation at national level, and Section B, concerning the ...

UNESCO is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training of Madagascar (METFP) for the creation of green jobs to tackle youth unemployment and strengthen the protection of Rainforests of the Atsinanana, UNESCO World Natural Heritage site. Located in the south-east of Madagascar, Andohahela straddles Fort-Dauphin and Amboasary Sud in Anosy ...

On 28 June 2022, the UNESCO eDNA initiative was featured at the United Nations Oceans Conference in Lisbon (Portugal), during a side event which showcased ambitious science-based initiatives that inform policy. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to revolutionize marine biodiversity assessments. This could save marine World Heritage site managers' precious time and resources, while at ...

According to a new count, 152 cultural sites in Ukraine have been partially or totally destroyed since the beginning of the war. UNESCO reiterates its call to respect international law, and continues its actions in support of cultural professionals in the field. On Thursday, UNESCO published an updated assessment of the damage caused to cultural sites in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, when ...

In the last 12 months, 145 cities, institutions and individuals have signed up to the HUL Call for Action to raise awareness about the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) and to accelerate inclusive urban and heritage management. Responses came from 59 countries from all regions of the world. They included stakeholders from academia, cultural institutions, the ...

Equinor, one of the leading energy companies and an important player in the oil and gas sector and the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), a leading standard-setting organization for the jewellery and watch industry, have confirmed their commitments to safeguard World Heritage sites. With an aim to preserve biodiversity and sensitive areas, and to reverse nature loss by 2030, Equinor ...

Between February and March 2022, UNESCO supported the emergency clearing of the riverbeds of the Jam and Hari Rivers along the side of the Minaret of Jam World Heritage property in Afghanistan, to prevent the impact of seasonal flash floods. The Minaret of Jam was the first Afghan site inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, in 2002. Due to its fragility, it was immediately placed on the ...

In line with UNESCO’s Priority Africa, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) is supporting 10 African countries without inscribed World Heritage properties (Burundi, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan) through the “Capacity-building programme for the nomination of World Heritage sites in the Africa Region,” ...

Under the presidency of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat has set up the programme "I discover my heritage" for the benefit of 3720 secondary school students from 62 secondary schools in Rabat in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and ...

The project “Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites”, funded by the government of Japan through the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust, will be carried out from 2022 to 2024. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to national lockdowns and global travel restrictions and  to the closure of ...

As we celebrate 50 years of global environmental action for the anniversary of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, a side-event commemorated the birth and achievements of four key biodiversity-related Conventions adopted in the 1970s: the Ramsar Convention, the World Heritage Convention, CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species. Watch the event ...

A fire in Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest, burning for over two months, escalated to uncontrolled levels on the northern slopes in February. The Rapid Response Facility (RRF), a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna and Flora International joint initiative providing small grants in emergency situations affecting biodiversity within natural World Heritage sites mobilized US$40,000 to ...

Resilience and Re-mobilization towards World Heritage The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the selected projects of the World Heritage Volunteers 2022 Campaign! Under the theme Resilience and Re-mobilization towards World Heritage, 59 action camp projects will be implemented from June to December 2022 at 56 World Heritage properties and sites on the Tentative Lists, by 44 ...