News

Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The Director-General signs a funds-in-trust agreement for the restoration of the historical centre of Gjirokastra in Albania
On 15 December 2006, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, and Ambassador Tatjana Gjonaj, Permanent Delegate of Albania to UNESCO, signed an agreement establishing a Funds-in-Trust in favour of the restoration of the historical ...

Friday, December 15, 2006
Re-opening of the Anna Amalia Library (World Heritage site of Classical Weimar) planned in October 2007 after the fire of 2004
The Anna Amalia Library, part of the World Heritage site of Classical Weimar which was inscribed on the UNESCO List in 1998, will reopen in October 2007, three years after it was damaged by a fire. According to the architect in charge of the ...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Statement of the Director-General of UNESCO: Transmitting the past without alteration or omission
"In the face of the attempts to re-write history that are currently at work, I can but recall in the most emphatic manner that it is our moral duty to analyse the past and to pass it on without falsification, alteration or omission. Any ...

Saturday, December 9, 2006
Conclusions of the First HERITY International Conference
This conference was held in Rome from December 5-9. The conclusions outlined below were reached thanks to contributions from ICCROM, UNESCO-WHC, UN-WTO, HERITY INTERNATIONALFrom the point of view of culture, no poor Countries exist around the ...

Friday, December 1, 2006
2006-2007 World Heritage Map Available
The 2006-2007 World Heritage map, the second to be produced in collaboration with National Geographic and Hewlett Packard, is now available. The goal of the partnership, signed at the end of 2005 for an initial period of three years, is to raise ...

Friday, November 24, 2006
New cooperation agreement signed between Belgian Science Policy Office and World Heritage Centre
On 21 November 2006, the Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Francesco Bandarin, signed a new cooperation agreement with Minister Marc Verwilghen, Belgian Minister for Science Policy. Under the agreement the Belgian Science Policy ...

Thursday, November 23, 2006
Hippo Massacre in Virunga National Park (DRC): UNESCO Reacts
Conservation activities continue in the World Heritage sites of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with particular attention given to Virunga National Park, where hippopotamuses are being massacred by the Mai Mai rebel group. In ...

Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Jet Tours and World Heritage Centre Implement Safeguarding Projects
In an ongoing commitment to sustainable tourism, Jet tours will support two safeguarding projects scheduled for implementation early 2007. The projects are part of a joint endeavour through the World Heritage Centre-Jet Tours partnership to ...

Thursday, November 9, 2006
New Report on World Heritage and Climate Change
Threats to cultural and natural heritage sites from the effects of climate change are further substantiated in a new report presented at the 12th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change taking place in Nairobi, ...

Monday, November 6, 2006
Preserving Congolese Heritage in Armed Conflict
On the occasion of the United Nations' International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, the World Heritage Centre would like to draw attention to the project "Biodiversity Conservation in ...

Tuesday, October 31, 2006
UNESCO World Heritage Desk Diary 2007 Now Available
The UNESCO World Heritage Desk Diary 2007 has just been published. Featuring a useful week-at-a-glance design, it is illustrated with 77 colour photos of World Heritage sites, each accompanied with a short caption. It also introduces the ...

Saturday, October 7, 2006
UNESCO and Partners Demonstrate Space Technologies for Monitoring World Heritage
At the 57th International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Congress held in Valencia, Spain from 2-6 October 2006, UNESCO and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Open Initiative on Space Technologies to Monitor Natural and Cultural Heritage of ...

Friday, September 29, 2006
Handbook on Cultural Heritage and Local Development for African Local Governments Published
The handbook "Cultural heritage and local development: A Guide for African local governments" was created in response to the request formulated during the special session 'African Towns and Heritage', organised by the World ...

Monday, September 25, 2006
No Survivors of WWF Helicopter Crash in Nepal
WWF Nepal has confirmed there are no survivors from Saturday's helicopter crash which occurred while transporting 24 delegates to attend the handover of Kangchenjunga Conservation Area in Taplejung, Nepal. The flight left Ghunsa Saturday ...

Thursday, September 21, 2006
Sao Tome and Principe ratifies the World Heritage Convention
On 25 July 2006, the Government of Sao Tome and Principe officially deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, its instrument of ratification, becoming the 183rd State Party to adopt the Convention concerning the ...

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes (UNESCO-Greece), Deadline approaches
Nominations for the prize have to be at UNESCO by 1 November 2006!The purpose of the Melina Mercouri International Prize (UNESCO-Greece) is to reward outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world's major cultural ...

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
UNESCO Mission reports on war damage to cultural heritage in Lebanon
Experts* sent to Lebanon by UNESCO to assess the state of the country's cultural heritage sites have called for urgent measures to clean up the oil spill from the World Heritage edifices along the Byblos shore line. However, they found that ...

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
A 7000 Euro Grant for the Realization of a Cultural Project Concerning the Mediterranean World
Born after 31 December 1977 you will be under 30 years of age in 2007. You are a native of a Mediterranean country. You wish to develop a project furthering the knowledge and understanding of Mediterranean cultures. Every year the Marc de ...

Wednesday, September 13, 2006
A Virtual Tour of World Heritage Sites
On the occasion of Journées Européennes du Patrimoine (European Heritage Days), and as part of the UNESCO-Vocations Patrimoine Fellowships programme for World Heritage managers established in January 2006, which provides fellowships to current ...

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
TourismAfrica 2006 Promotes African World Heritage
With the support of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, TourismAfrica 2006 (10-15 September, Geneva, Switzerland) is actively raising awareness of African World Heritage.  This four-day event gathers professional African and international ...