News

The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Baku since 30 June, decided to remove the site of Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works (Chile) from the List of World Heritage in Danger thanks to the national authorities’ measures to ensure its sustainable conservation and management. The Saltpeter Works were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005 and, simultaneously, on the List of ...

The opening ceremony of this year’s session of the World Heritage Committee was held on 30 June at the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, marking the start of the Committee’s work, scheduled to continue until 10 July. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay welcomed the enthusiasm for World Heritage and “its exceptional ability to bring people together.” She urged “respect for the spirit of the ...

20-22 June: African academics and heritage experts met in the city of Teramo, in the Abruzzo region of Italy, to unpack the concept of ‘prevention’ as a tool for sustainable development, emphasizing the need to place the youth in the centre of this concept by making it relevant to them. Organized under the theme “Protection of cultural and natural heritage and resources through prevention: ...

Tuesday, June 25 - Recent flooding and the security situation threaten the preservation of the Minaret and Archaeological Remains of Jam, Afghanistan. UNESCO will send a mission to the site and launch a safeguarding project, thanks to funding from the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH) of USD 1.9 million. The Minaret of Jam is exposed to several ...

The World Heritage Committee will examine 36 nominations for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 43rd session, which will take place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from 30 June to 10 July under the chair of Abulfas Garayev, Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan. The Committee will furthermore examine the state of conservation of 166 sites already inscribed on the World ...

Heritage authorities from six heritage cities in Asia, Pacific and Africa gather in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, from 20 to 21 June 2019 to attend a workshop entitled “Experience Sharing Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Strategy among Heritage Cities in Southeast Asia, Pacific and Africa“ held by UNESCO Office Jakarta in collaboration with George Town World Heritage Incorporated ...

As a global report released a month ago shows, the world’s ecosystems and biodiversity are deteriorating faster than at any time in human history, undermining humanity’s well-being and future existence.  The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, released by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in early May, ...

The UNESCO-Africa-China Forum on World Heritage Capacity Building and Cooperation, held at UNESCO Headquarters from 3 – 4 June 2019, concluded with Recommendations and an Action Plan for joint projects supporting long-term capacity building for the safeguarding of African World Heritage properties.  It was attended by ministers, decision-makers, World Heritage site managers, academics and ...

Following the devastating fire at Mount Kenya National Park in February 2019 and the subsequent rampaging wildfire at Simien Mountains National Park in April 2019, UNESCO organized a capacity-building workshop in disaster risk management for World Heritage site managers and other stakeholders from Kenya and Ethiopia from 11 to 14 June 2019 at Mount Kenya World Heritage site in Nanyuki ...

“Heritage it is an inherent part of our identity. It is a way to understand each other better” mentioned Victoria Kelly, one of the participants to the European Young Heritage Professionals Forum  that gathered young practitioners with a background in both tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Participants came from the 28 Member States of the European Union to discuss the multifaceted ...

This World Oceans Day, 8 June, is dedicated to gender and the ocean. To celebrate the day, UNESCO honours all women whose scientific work is enhancing the conservation of the 49 marine sites inscribed on the World Heritage List. Discover the fascinating work of some of these women scientists through the videos below. Ocean science is crucial for the protection and conservation of World ...

This year, World Environment Day is focused on air pollution. Almost all of us are affected by it: 92 per cent of people worldwide do not breathe clean air. So in 2019, those celebrating World Environment Day will urge governments, industry, communities, and individuals to come together to explore renewable energy and green technologies, and improve air quality in cities across the ...

The three countries agree on a roadmap to explore the boundary extension of the Okavango Delta World Heritage site to protect the river basin and the unique wetland system. The States Parties of Angola, Botswana and Namibia met in Maun in Botswana on 3-4 June 2019 to discuss transboundary cooperation and ways to improve conservation of the Okavango Delta (Botswana) World Heritage site ...

The Yaksu-ri and Susan-ri tombs, two exceptional testaments to the civilisation of the Koguryo kingdom, were successfully conserved thanks to the UNESCO/Republic of Korea Funds-in-Trust project “Safeguarding of Koguryo Tombs in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)”, coordinated by UNESCO and implemented since 2000 in three consecutive phases. The property includes about 30 tombs ...

The team of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness after learning that former President of ICOMOS International, Prof Michael Petzet passed away on 30 May 2019. The passing away of Michael Petzet represents an important loss for the conservation community. His strong opinions were always a reflection of his unerring commitment to excellence in the conservation of ...

On 3 and 4 June, the UNESCO-Africa-China Forum on World Heritage Capacity Building and Cooperation will seek to strengthen collaboration between Africa and China in the preservation of World Heritage. It will also provide an opportunity to take stock of the sustainable development challenges facing World Heritage sites in both China and Africa and foster the sharing of experience in this ...

This World Oceans Day, 8 June, will be dedicated to gender and the ocean. To celebrate the day, UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the World Heritage Centre are teaming up to honour all women whose scientific work is enhancing the conservation of the 49 marine sites inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Join up and send us your short video by 31 May 2019. Everyone ...

An outstanding video of Cameroon’s Dja Faunal Reserve and the Sangha TriNational submitted by Ancel Langwa won the first prize in the Instagram video contest organized by the World Heritage Centre (WHC) and the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) on the occasion of the fourth edition of African World Heritage Day (5 May). The contest closed on Monday, May 20, 2019. The 27 submitted videos ...

This year’s International Day for Biological Diversity focuses on biodiversity as the foundation for our food and health and as a key catalyst to transforming food systems and improving human well-being. The World Heritage Convention recognizes some World Heritage properties specifically for their outstanding biodiversity values, protecting many of the most important ecosystems and areas of ...

The World Heritage Centre organized a series of testing sessions for the on‑line tool of the World Heritage Policy Compendium. These testing sessions, which took place between April and May 2019, gathered feedback and comments from key World Heritage stakeholders on the Policy Compendium On‑line Tool, currently being developed by the World Heritage Centre. The consultation is carried out ...