Thursday, 11 June 2015
Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting in Europe
The Second Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise in the Europe and North America region was launched at the 36th session of the World Heritage ...

Thursday, 11 June 2015
State of Conservation of the Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria)
The World Heritage Centre is receiving correspondence from many NGOs and concerned citizens regarding a proposed high-rise project, and other matters, ...

Thursday, 11 June 2015
UNESCO raises safety concerns on the reopening of Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site
The devastating earthquakes of 25 April and the aftershocks that followed have heavily damaged the monuments and sites within the Kathmandu Valley ...

Monday, 8 June 2015
Relais & Châteaux and SeaWeb Europe celebrate Marine World Heritage on World Oceans Day by promoting sustainable seafood
As the world’s population grows, demand for fresh seafood is rising, and stocks are being stretched to the limit. Climate change impacts further ...

Friday, 5 June 2015
World Heritage Committee to meet in Bonn 28 June to 8 July
The World Heritage Committee will examine proposals to inscribe 37 properties on UNESCO’s World Heritage List when it meets at the international ...

Tuesday, 2 June 2015
UNESCO Expert Workshop: Conservation of Mural Paintings – Research, Access and Conservation
A three-day meeting in Berlin brought together experts from around the world to discuss the current practices for mural painting conservation and led ...

Tuesday, 2 June 2015
UNESCO Director-General condemns airstrikes on Yemen’s cultural heritage
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has condemned the airstrikes on the ancient city of Marib in Yemen and is calling on all parties ...

Thursday, 28 May 2015
“Saving the cultural heritage of Iraq” ‒ Director-General welcomes Adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova addressed today’s Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly, which adopted unanimously a resolution on “Saving ...

Wednesday, 27 May 2015
1st Management Planning Workshop in Korça, Albania, to improve transboundary management at Lake Ohrid
The 1st Management Planning Workshop to protect the transboundary Lake Ohrid region took place on 25-26 March in Korça, Albania. The workshop is part ...

Friday, 22 May 2015
Vice Premier of China Asserts Significance of UNESCO for Dialogue and Peace
The Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Ms Liu Yandong, pledged her country’s ambition to push her Government’s broad collaboration with ...

Thursday, 21 May 2015
Mauritania, Philippines and Australia apply for better protection for marine World Heritage sites at International Maritime Organisation
Worldwide shipping traffic has increased 300% since 1992, and this growing industry does not leave World Heritage marine sites immune to its ...

Wednesday, 20 May 2015
UNESCO Director-General calls for immediate cessation of hostilities in Palmyra
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has called for an immediate end to hostilities in Palmyra (Syria) following reports from several sources ...

Tuesday, 19 May 2015
State of conservation of Venice and its lagoon (Italy)
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is receiving messages expressing concern about the state of conservation of the World Heritage property "Venice and ...

Thursday, 14 May 2015
“We must save Palmyra" says UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today expressed her deep concern over reports of fighting near Palmyra, endangering the local population ...

Wednesday, 13 May 2015
UNESCO launches emergency response plan to safeguard Yemen cultural heritage
Amid reports of several cultural heritage sites being damaged across Yemen, UNESCO Office for the GCC and Yemen has developed a series of emergency ...

Tuesday, 12 May 2015
UNESCO Director-General calls on all parties to protect Yemen’s cultural heritage
Amid alarming reports about bombing of the World Heritage Site of the Old City of Sana’a, UNESCO’s Director-General calls on all parties to protect ...

Thursday, 7 May 2015
Director-General Signs Condolences Book for Nepal
On 6 May, the Director-General expressed her sincere condolences to the Government and people of Nepal in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake ...

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
State of conservation of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico)
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is receiving petitions expressing concern about the state of conservation of the World Heritage property Monarch ...

Wednesday, 6 May 2015
#Unite4Heritage: United Nations University joins UNESCO campaign to protect heritage in danger
The United Nations University (UNU) and UNESCO today brought together scholars, archeologists, historians and writers to discuss ways of opposing the ...

Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Director-General meets Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
On 4 May, during her official visit to Estonia, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Ms ...

Monday, 4 May 2015
Attacks against Cultural Heritage – What can UNESCO do?
On 4 May, on the occasion of her official visit to Estonia, the Director General, Ms Irina Bokova, gave a lecture at the Estonian Academy of Arts on ...

Monday, 4 May 2015
Director-General meets Estonian Minister of Culture
On 4 May, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, met with the Minister of Culture, Mr Indrek Saar. The Minister congratulated UNESCO on the ...

Monday, 4 May 2015
Director-General on Official Visit to Estonia
From 4 to 5 May, UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, is travelling to Estonia for an official visit, where she is expected to meet with a number of ...

Thursday, 30 April 2015
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) trek in the Dja Faunal Reserve
Following an AWF-led great apes conservation workshop in Yaoundé scheduled from April 22nd to 23rd, the AWF will lead a trek initiative from April ...

Tuesday, 28 April 2015
In memoriam: Dr Ronald Van Oers
The World Heritage Centre announces with profound sadness the passing on 28 April 2015 of Dr Ronald Van Oers, Vice Director of the World Heritage ...

Monday, 27 April 2015
UNESCO to assess the impact on Nepal’s cultural heritage of the devastating earthquake
“As we are receiving more information from the ground, I am deeply aggrieved by the magnitude of human loss caused by the earthquake in Nepal. I am ...

Monday, 27 April 2015
"Culture stands on the front-line of conflict - it should be at the front-line of peace building,” Director-General states to UN Security Council
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and the Secretary General of INTERPOL, Jürgen Stock, addressed members of the UN Security Council on ...

Saturday, 25 April 2015
UNESCO Director General expresses distress after earthquake in Nepal
The Director-General, Irina Bokova, has expressed her profound sympathy to the government and people of Nepal after the devastating earthquake that ...

Friday, 24 April 2015
Great Apes Infographic Highlights World Heritage Importance
The endangered chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and bonobos found at World Heritage sites in Africa and Asia underscore the importance of these ...

Thursday, 23 April 2015
Virunga: a challenge for conservation and sustainable development
A screening of the movie “Virunga” was organized at UNESCO Headquarters, attended by a thousand people, in the framework of the celebration of the ...

Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Jaeger-LeCoultre brings spotlight on marine World Heritage on Earth Day
UNESCO could not conserve the Crown Jewels of the Ocean without support from public and private partner organizations around the world. In a world ...

Wednesday, 22 April 2015
[in French only] L’approche basée sur le paysage urbain historique contribue à la conservation durable de Cidade Velha
[in French only] Les gestionnaires de Cidade Velha et de plusieurs villes de Cabo Verde, les communautés locales, les experts nationaux et ...

Wednesday, 15 April 2015
Vacancy: Local Facilitator to the Advisory Bodies
Towards strengthened governance of the shared transboundary natural and cultural heritage of the Lake Ohrid Region: Local Facilitator, Albania IUCN ...

Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Inventory and cultural mapping of Sultanate’s architectural and urban heritage
In 2008 the NGO “Collectif du patrimoine des Comores” launched an inventory and cultural mapping project of the architectural and urban heritage of ...

Monday, 13 April 2015
UNESCO Director-General condemns destruction at Nimrud
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today denounced further destruction at the archeological site of Nimrud in Iraq, shown in graphic detail on a ...

Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Mayor of Istanbul and the Director-General celebrate the 30th anniversary of the inscription of the Historic Areas of Istanbul on the World Heritage List
H.E. Mr Kadir Topbas, Lord Mayor of Istanbul, visited UNESCO on the occasion of the Organization’s 70thanniversary, coinciding with the 30th ...

Tuesday, 7 April 2015
New management plan at Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park puts focus on Outstanding Universal Value
The Philippines’ Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is a spectacular reef system in the famed Coral Triangle. The park encompasses 970 km² of coral atolls ...

Thursday, 2 April 2015
The Director-General of UNESCO calls for all Syrians to commit to the safeguarding of cultural Heritage in Bosra and Idlib
In the context of the recent escalation of hostilities in Bosra and Idlib, the UNESCO Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova, reiterates her call for the ...

Monday, 30 March 2015
Peer learning between Galapagos Islands and Great Barrier Reef
The differences in culture might be as big as the ocean between them, but Australia and Ecuador are home to two of the world’s best-known natural ...

Saturday, 28 March 2015
#Unite4Heritage campaign launched by UNESCO Director-General in Baghdad
UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, launched #Unite4Heritage at Baghdad University – a social media campaign to counter the propaganda of cultural ...

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Ngorongoro Conservation Area sets path for sustainable tourism
Ngorongoro Conservation Area joins Lake Malawi National Park, Maloti-Drakensberg Park (South Africa and Lesotho) and Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls ...

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
“We stand together” to protect Iraq's cultural heritage, says French President with UNESCO Director-General
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and French President Francois Hollande today sent a strong message of solidarity to the people of Iraq and Syria, ...

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova expresses solidarity with Tunisia following deadly attack at Bardo Museum
UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today condemned the deadly attack at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, and expressed her support and solidarity with ...

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Save Virunga’s elephants
“The Elephant Collaring Project Team” from Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an initiative which aims at strengthening ...

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
First Management Planning Workshop to begin for transboundary Lake Ohrid region
The first management planning workshop in a series of five will take place on 25 and 26 March 2015 in the Korça region, Albania. The workshop is ...

Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Launch of Website – Germany looking forward to hosting World Heritage Committee
Upcoming 39th session due to take place in Bonn, Germany. The annual highlight for the World Heritage community is drawing near: From 28 June to 8 ...

Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Resiliency and Cultural Heritage discussed at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction
UNESCO, in partnership with the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA), the Japanese National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH), ICCROM ...

Wednesday, 11 March 2015
UNESCO mobilizes the international community to end cultural cleansing in Iraq
Since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq, in addition to the tragic loss of human life and the humanitarian crisis associated to the persecution of ...

Monday, 9 March 2015
Minister of State Böhmer condemns destruction of Iraqi cultural sites in Nimrud by the ISIS terrorist group and calls for peace in Iraq
Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office and Chair of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee Maria Böhmer issued the following statement in Berlin ...

Saturday, 7 March 2015
"Destruction of Hatra marks a turning point in the cultural cleansing underway in iraq" say heads of UNESCO and ISESCO
Since the beginning of the conflict in Iraq, in addition to the tragic loss of human life and the humanitarian crisis associated to the persecution of ...

Friday, 6 March 2015
UNESCO Director General condemns destruction of Nimrud in Iraq
“I condemn in the strongest possible manner the destruction of the archaeological site of Nimrud site in Iraq. This is yet another attack against the ...

Saturday, 28 February 2015
Director-General welcomes UN Security Council statement on destruction of artifacts at Mosul Museum
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has welcomed the UN Security Council's statement denouncing the attack on the Mosul Museum. "This ...

Saturday, 28 February 2015
UNESCO Director-General welcomes the reopening of the Baghdad Museum
"The reopening of the Baghdad Museum is a powerful symbol, coming in the wake of the destruction perpetrated in Mosul. To fight violent extremism and ...

Friday, 27 February 2015
March 3rd is World Wildlife Day
"It is time to get serious about wildlife crime" This year’s theme for World Wildlife Day is right in line with one of the key goals of the World ...

Friday, 27 February 2015
UNESCO calls for mobilization to stop "cultural cleansing" in Iraq
“I was filled with dismay by images of the attack on the Mosul Museum, as well as on other archaeological sites in the Nineveh region in Iraq,” said ...

Thursday, 26 February 2015
Director-General requests UN Security Council meeting on destruction of heritage in Mosul
“I am deeply shocked by footage released today showing the destruction of statues and other artefacts of the Mosul Museum. I condemn this as a ...

Wednesday, 25 February 2015
International Conference on Archaeological Parks and Sites held in Oman 23-25 February 2015
A major international conference was organized by ICOMOS Oman at Dhofar University in Salalah, Sultanate of Oman to review archaeological heritage ...

Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Call for expression of interest for the evaluation of the African World Heritage Fund
Established as a Category II Centre under the auspices of UNESCO in October 2009, the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) is an inter-governmental ...

Wednesday, 18 February 2015
World Heritage Young Experts Forum 2015 in Germany “Towards a Sustainable Management of World Heritage Sites”
Prior to the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee, a Young Experts Forum will be held from 18 to 29 June 2015 in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley ...

Thursday, 12 February 2015
UNESCO Director-General welcomes UN Security Council Resolution to step up protection of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq
The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Irina Bokova, welcomed the adoption of a new UN Security Council Resolution 2199 that condemns the destruction of ...

Wednesday, 11 February 2015
UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture gathers Ministers of Tourism and Culture for the first time
Over 900 participants, including over 45 Ministers and Vice Ministers of Tourism and Culture, international experts, speakers and guests from 100 ...

Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Banc d’Arguin National Park inspires young people to preserve World Heritage
With support from UNESCO’s World Heritage Marine Programme, the Banc d’Arguin National Park in Mauritania organized a series of educational activities ...

Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Director General, job vacancy
The secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is currently recruiting a Director General (DG).  SPREP is the regional ...

Friday, 6 February 2015
Ecuador intensifies actions to reduce risks from ship stranding in Galápagos Islands
On Wednesday, 28 January, the cargo ship Floreana stranded near San Cristobal, an island that is part of the Galápagos islands World Heritage ...

Friday, 6 February 2015
2014-2015 World Heritage Map Published
The latest version of the World Heritage map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and National Geographic Maps with the generous support of ...

Tuesday, 3 February 2015
UNESCO and Panasonic inspire pupils in Fujian, China, to become ambassadors of World Heritage protection
Since their first agreement signed in 2011, UNESCO and Panasonic have worked together to educate young people about  protecting natural and cultural ...

Monday, 2 February 2015
World Heritage stakeholders come together to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls
World heritage site managers and tourism stakeholders from Zambia and Zimbabwe came together for the first time to initiate the process to develop a ...

Monday, 2 February 2015
World Heritage N° 74: Disasters and resilience
Issue 74 of World Heritage magazine World Heritage sites are exposed to a wide variety of natural and human-induced hazards, such as earthquakes, ...

Friday, 30 January 2015
Bamako conference urges emergency action to safeguard manuscripts
Storage conditions of ancient manuscripts smuggled out of Timbuktu to Bamako in 2012 must be improved rapidly to avoid decay, concluded participants ...

Wednesday, 28 January 2015
Experts and practitioners draft policy on World Heritage and sustainable development
From 22 to 24 January 2015, UNESCO, in cooperation with the Vietnamese authorities, hosted a workshop on World Heritage and sustainable development at ...

Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Belize agrees to Chart Road Map solving Critical Conservation Issues to remove Belize Barrier Reef from Danger List
Following a week-long constructive discussion with UNESCO's World Heritage Centre and IUCN, the government of Belize agreed to start talks on critical ...

Thursday, 22 January 2015
Celebrating World Wetlands Day: 2 February 2015
2 February each year is World Wetlands Day. It marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city ...

Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Safeguarding Mali’s ancient manuscript collections, an international conference in Bamako
Nearly two years after armed groups occupied northern Mali and destroyed cultural heritage there, an international conference will take place in the ...

Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Earthwatch launches its 2015 Business Skills Transfer Programme
Once again this year Earthwatch is offering funded training and mentoring in organisational and business management practices to protected areas in ...

Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Announcement for Internship Opportunities (South Africa and Benin)
Internship Opportunities in South Africa and Benin, from 1 April until 30 September 2015. Two internships will run in 2015, one at the African World ...

Sunday, 18 January 2015
Another Fire at the Royal Palaces of Abomey World Heritage site in Benin
On 14 January 2015, a fire has once again ravaged the Palace of the King Houégbadja in the Royal Palaces of Abomey World Heritage property in ...

Wednesday, 14 January 2015
French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) provides expertise to UNESCO in the framework of the France-UNESCO Cooperation Agreement
In the framework of the France-UNESCO Cooperation Agreement (an agreement for the protection and enhancement of monumental, urban and natural ...

Thursday, 8 January 2015
The Polynesian Voyaging Society embarks on a worldwide voyage through marine World Heritage sites
Nainoa Thompson and the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage (sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines) are embarking on a 3-year trip that will take them to 13 marine ...

Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Online Travel Itinerary launched about World Heritage sites in the United States
The National Park Service's newest online travel itinerary highlights the 22 World Heritage sites located in the United States. The project includes ...

Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Director-General Presents World Heritage Certificates to Turkey
On 6 January, during her official visit to Turkey, the Director-General participated in a ceremony to present the World Heritage Certificates for the ...

Monday, 22 December 2014
Panasonic World Heritage 2015 Calendar in paper, online and tablet PC app formats now available
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic Corporation have released the 2015 World Heritage calendar. Featuring stunning photographs of World ...

Friday, 19 December 2014
UNWTO and UNESCO to organize first World Conference on Tourism and Culture
The First World Conference on Tourism and Culture will bring together, for the first time, Ministers of Tourism and Ministers of Culture from ...

Friday, 19 December 2014
The Government of Indonesia, UNESCO, and Panasonic Jointly Launched the LED Lighting Installment in Prambanan Temple Compounds
The Panasonic Corporation in cooperation with UNESCO Office Jakarta organised a launching ceremony of LED Lighting Installment in Prambanan ...