News

The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Larry Hamilton, a pioneer in nature conservation whose impact touched all the corners of the globe. Larry was an exceptional educator, advisor, and pioneer of courses in forest ecology, watershed studies, interdisciplinary collaboration, and international resource issues at Cornell University’s Department of ...

“As I have stated on many occasions, and most recently during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee, Jerusalem is the sacred city of the three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is in recognition of this exceptional diversity, and this cultural and religious coexistence, that it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. “The heritage of ...

Over the past nine years, the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Initiative has grown tremendously due to increasing interest and appreciation for World Heritage protection, preservation and promotion of World Heritage sites. Celebrating 10 years of the initiative, the World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the Call for Projects for the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Campaign ...

Professionals from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are the beneficiaries of the sub-regional workshop on “Managing Disaster Risks in UNESCO Designated Sites” that will take place in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 10-13 October 2016. The event is organised by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy), in support of the World Heritage ...

Since South Sudan’s ratification of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in March 2016, UNESCO has been working closely with the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to support the development of the newest African country’s first Tentative List of potential World Heritage sites.  A ‘Tentative List’ is a detailed inventory of natural, cultural or mixed (both natural and cultural) ...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has recognized Ahmed Al-Faqi Al-Mahdi guilty of war crime and has sentenced him to 9 years in prison for his responsibility in the deliberate destruction in 2012 of nine mausoleums and the secret gate of the Sidi Yahia mosque in UNESCO’s World Heritage site of Timbuktu (Mali). “The decision of the International Criminal Court is a landmark in gaining ...

With almost 1.2 billion people travelling abroad each year, tourism has become a powerful economic sector, a passport to prosperity, dialogue and peace, and a transformative force improving millions of lives. Tourism and World Heritage are natural partners. Almost all World Heritage sites are or become tourist destinations-some are among the most iconic places on Earth. The key objective of ...

Destruction of cultural heritage has reached unprecedented levels. In light of this, and culture’s unique contribution to peace and sustainable development, the ratification, implementation and visibility of UNESCO’s six Culture Conventions are more important than ever. This was the focus of the Second Meeting of the Chairpersons of the Committees of UNESCO Culture Conventions at UNESCO ...

On 19 September 2016 at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (Architectural and Heritage Centre), Paris, the representatives of seven States Parties, Argentina, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan and Switzerland were presented with the certificates of inscription on the List of World Heritage of the serial property “The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding ...

The sacred gate of the mosque of Sidi Yahia in Timbuktu, which bears testimony to cultural traditions dating back to the 15th century CE, was officially reinstalled on 19 September in a ceremony organized by the inhabitants of the World Heritage site. The gate, regarded as sacred, had been pulled out and damaged on 2 July 2012 by armed extremists who occupied the city. The restoration and ...

A joint reactive monitoring mission by the World Heritage Centre and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) to assess the state of conservation of the World Heritage property “Wood Buffalo National Park” will take place from 25 September to 4 October 2016, at the invitation of Canada, and in keeping with the request made by the World Heritage Committee at its 39th session in ...

In May/June 2016, the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with its partners, organized a travelling exhibition displayed on the railings of UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and, subsequently, at the international conference in Arusha on the theme of African World Heritage Safeguarding as a Driver of Sustainable Development. For the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee held in ...

The more than 1,800 UNESCO designated sites around the world – World Heritage sites, biosphere reserves and UNESCO Global Geoparks – are impacted by climate change, and can play a significant role in understanding, adapting to and mitigating these impacts. These were the key messages from the opening day of the 2nd Huangshan Dialogue, a global forum on UNESCO-designated sites and sustainable ...

It is with great sadness and concern that the World Heritage Centre learnt of the impact of the heavy rains and windstorms of 23 August 2016 that affected local communities, historic buildings and the villages of Albreda and Juffureh at Gambia's World Heritage site of Kunta Kinteh Island and Related Sites. The storms caused destruction of property, including the loss of part of the roof of ...

The Nature-Culture Journey of the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress concluded with a call for commitments, “Malama Honua - to care for our island Earth”. It recognizes the nature-culture links as vital for addressing contemporary conservation challenges. The 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress, which took place in Honolulu, Hawai’i from 1 to 10 September 2016, was attended by some ...

New guidelines launched at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress aim to support the management of areas recognised simultaneously under several international designations, all of which have environmental conservation at their heart. The publication, “Managing MIDAs – Harmonising the management of Multi-Internationally Designated Areas: Ramsar Sites, World Heritage sites, Biosphere ...

The winner of the Heritage Heroes award was announced on 4 September 2016 at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, USA. The Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dr Mechtild Rössler, congratulated the Heritage Hero nominees from Virunga National Park (DRC), Western Caucasus (Russian Federation) and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary (India). Mr. Bibhuti Lakhar was the people’s ...

On 1 September, the UNESCO Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova participated in the IUCN World Conservation Congress opening ceremony, in the presence of several Heads of State of the Pacific Islands, Ms. Sally Jewell, US Secretary of State of the Interior and Senator of Hawaii, Mr Shatz. Irina Bokova held several bilateral meetings with Heads of State and Conservation leaders, where she ...

UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, welcomed the establishment by the President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama, of the largest nature reserve in the world, by expanding the marine reserve Papahānaumokuākea, in Hawaii (USA), listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2010. "This decision is a powerful symbol of determination to protect the environment. It is a way to strengthen ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, will undertake a mission to Honolulu (USA) from 1st September to 3rd September to participate in the World Conservation Congress organized by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), an advisory body to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The main purpose of IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii is to bring together leaders ...