News

Friday, March 30, 2012
Archaeological discoveries
In the sacred place of Tenochtitlan, archaeologists from INAH-Conaculta (The Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History and the Mexican National Council for Culture and the Arts), have found 23 tombstones over 550 years old, with ...

Friday, March 30, 2012
Director-General of UNESCO appeals for protection of Syria’s cultural heritage
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today called for the protection of the cultural heritage of Syria.   ‘Following a number of media reports that Syria’s cultural heritage is threatened by the current conflict, ...

Friday, March 30, 2012
International World Heritage Expert Meeting on criterion (vi)
  The International World Heritage Expert Meeting on Criterion (vi)  and associative values which took place in Warsaw, Poland, 28-30 March 2012, adopted its recommendations at a closing session today. The conclusions and ...

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
UNESCO committed to stronger links between World Heritage and Tourism
UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova underlined the importance of better integrating cultural heritage preservation and sustainable tourism during the Roundtable on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism, held in Miami on 19 March. She ...

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
From World Heritage to Literacy, Philadelphia Embraces UNESCO
World Heritage and literacy were bookends to a day where Philadelphia opened its arms to UNESCO, during the second day of Director-General Irina Bokova’s visit to the United States on Thursday.Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joined ...

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Top Agenda in Miami Leg of Director-General’s Mission to the U.S.
With a stunning visit to the Everglades the day before serving as a strong reminder, Director-General Irina Bokova turned her attention to a private-public sector roundtable on World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism in Miami on Monday. Joining a ...

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
World Heritage sites participate in Earth Hour
UNESCO will partner with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for Earth Hour, one of the world's largest and most well-known environmental campaigns in the world. UNESCO has invited World Heritage sites to participate in this initiative by switching ...

Thursday, March 22, 2012
GIS boundaries of natural and mixed World Heritage sites available
IUCN and UNEP-WCMC have compiled a KML layer with key information on the natural and mixed World Heritage sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as of 1 January 2012. The information comes from the latest version of the World Database ...

Thursday, March 22, 2012
Jaeger-LeCoultre auction benefits Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park
From 12-15 March 2012, the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre, partner of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre since 2008, organized its fourth online auction for the benefit of World Heritage marine sites. This year, the ...

Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Rapid Response Facility helping combat Mt. Kenya fires
On January 15th, forest fires were spotted on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the highest mountain in Africa.  Inscribed onto the World Heritage list in 1997, Mount Kenya is a critical refuge for a host of iconic species, ranging from the ...

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Venice Declaration adopted at international Conference on "Building Cities Resilience to Disasters in Europe: Protecting Cultural Heritage and Adapting to Climate Change"
The World Heritage Centre took part in a Conference organized by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) and the Municipality of Venice on "Building Cities Resilience to Disasters in Europe: Protecting Cultural Heritage ...

Friday, March 16, 2012
UNESCO World Heritage Youth Storyboard Competition
To contribute to the 2012 celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea (CHA) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) recently ...

Thursday, March 15, 2012
In Memoriam: Professor Herb Stovel, conservationist
Professor Herb Stovel, one of the world’s most renowned experts in heritage conservation, recently passed away in Ottawa, Canada. During his long career, Professor Stovel made an outstanding contribution to heritage conservation and to ...

Thursday, March 15, 2012
American National Park Service (NPS) celebrates 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention
The National Park Service of the United States of America is celebrating the World Heritage Convention with events throughout the year. For more information, there is an interactive ...

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
World Heritage Centre expresses concern regarding aeromagnetic and aerogravimetric explorations at Virunga National Park (DRC)
The World Heritage Centre has just been informed that a Ministerial Order, signed on 1 September 2011, delivers to SOCO (South Africa Congo Oil) a Certificate of Environmental Acceptability in order to exercise an oil exploration campaign ...

Monday, March 12, 2012
International World Heritage Expert Meeting on Integrity for Cultural Heritage
Dr. Sami El-Masri, Deputy Director General for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, with the Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mr Kishore Rao, opened today the International Expert Meeting on Integrity ...

Thursday, March 8, 2012
Aztec Ruins hosts World Heritage celebration
Aztec Ruins, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987 as part of the Chaco Culture designation,  celebrated  the 25th anniversary of its inscription on February 24 2012, joining the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the World ...

Thursday, March 8, 2012
City council grants planning permission for development scheme at World Heritage site “Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City”
On 6 March 2012, Liverpool City Council’s Planning Committee granted outline planning permission for the Peel Holdings £5.5bn Liverpool Waters scheme. The permission is subject to the signing of a legal agreement and has to be ...

Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Construction of a women’s dyeing factory in Bamako
Women in Mali have developed over the last decades specific skills in terms of textile dyeing. This activity provides many employment opportunities for women, as their production is being exported all throughout the sub-region. However, since ...

Friday, March 2, 2012
Exploration of hydrocarbons has been suspended on the Coffee Cultural Landscape, Colombia.
Thanks to Quindío being declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage property, Coffee Cultural Landscape (Colombia), the exploration of hydrocarbons in this area has been stopped by order of the Council of State. The decree was issued ...