Rubbish and pollution are a problem at many World Heritage sites. Increased tourism means that more people are leaving trash at the world’s most iconic sites, so we need to learn to visit sites without leaving a trace behind. Marine pollution is also a problem at many World Heritage sites, where waste—including plastics—wash up on the beach. Birds, turtles and marine mammals get entangled in ...

18 April 2018 is the International Day for Monuments and Sites with the theme: Heritage for Generations. If our heritage is what we leave behind for future generations, we need to prepare young people to protect it—and the best way is through education. The World Heritage Education Programme gives young people around the world the chance to learn about their heritage, and to be a part of ...

UNESCO and World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) signed an agreement to cooperate by developing activities in order to raise awareness and mobilize young Scouts to participate in World Heritage conservation and promotion. As a main result of this agreement, WOSM produced the “World Scouting-UNESCO World Heritage Recognition Programme Guidelines” in collaboration with the UNESCO ...

Specially conceived for young people between the ages of 18 and 28, #MyAfricanheritage is an Instagram contest aiming to promote the exceptional cultural and natural heritage of the African continent. Each participant will post a photo of an African site inscribed on the World Heritage List along with a brief description of the site’s significance to the participant and his/her personal ...

The Geneva Declaration ‘Human Rights and Culture Heritage: Committed Cities Working Together’ was adopted in Geneva, Switzerland on 26 March 2018, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration aims to clarify cities’ obligations in the area of cultural heritage rehabilitation, particularly in relation to intentionally destroyed cultural heritage. ...

The Kenyan National Commission for UNESCO organized a three-day workshop from 26 to 28 March 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya in order to increase youth engagement in the conservation and promotion of World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage. As a State Party to three important UNESCO Conventions in the field of Culture, Kenya has made the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, today condemed the deadly attack perpetrated on 9 April against the staff of the Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, during which six guards and their driver lost their lives. “I condemn this deadly attack on six guards of the Virunga National Park and their driver. I call on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take all the ...

The conservation of wetlands does not only contribute to the safeguarding of biodiversity, it can also support the safeguarding of their cultural and spiritual values. The workshop “The Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Wetlands Supporting the integration of nature and culture in their governance and management” organised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in ...

The International Meeting of experts on the Conservation and Revitalization of the Kasbah of Algiers, a World Heritage Site, organized by the World Heritage Centre of UNESCO jointly with the Algerian Ministry of Culture, took place from 20 to 23 January 2018 in Algiers, Algeria. It gathered 200 participants, including key actors of the conservation of the Kasbah of Algiers, international ...

From the 13th to the 15th of March 2018, the World Heritage Policy Compendium Working Group met for the second time at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The meeting was organised in follow-up to the first meeting of the group (December 2017, Paris) and on completion of the Policy Compendium Online Consultation, which was carried out in February and March 2018. The Policy Compendium initiative, ...

In February and March 2018, the World Heritage Centre carried out an online consultation with key World Heritage stakeholders on the first draft of the World Heritage Policy Compendium. The consultation gathered feedback and comments from key World Heritage stakeholders including States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. For the first time, the online consultation included also UNESCO ...

‘Mainstreaming youth perspective and involvement in conservation and sustainable development of African World Heritage’ The 3rd African World Heritage Regional Youth Forum 2018 under the theme of ‘Mainstreaming youth perspective and involvement in conservation and sustainable development of African World Heritage’ will take place from 30 April to 3 May 2018 in the World Heritage site of the ...

Water is essential to life; no living organism can survive without it. We need water for human survival, and water is critical for sustaining healthy ecosystems, which provide a wide range of benefits to people. World Heritage sites include a large variety of landscapes, from wet tropical rainforests to arid deserts. Mountains inscribed on the World Heritage List provide water to thousands ...

The latest version of the World Heritage map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and National Geographic Maps with the generous support of the Kingdom of Bahrain, can now be ordered from the World Heritage Centre website. The featured image on the map presents the Pearling, Testimony of an Island Economy World Heritage property in Bahrain, country hosting the next session of the ...

The World Heritage Centre has taken due note of concerns expressed by numerous citizens and NGOs regarding the recent agreement signed between Seychelles and India to establish a naval base on Assumption Island, located some 27 km from Aldabra Atoll World Heritage property (Seychelles). UNESCO appreciates the commitment of these stakeholders to the safeguarding of this World Heritage ...

Forest ecosystems are home to the vast majority of the world’s terrestrial species, but they are also under the greatest pressure from human activities. Ranging in size from the Vallée de Mai, Seychelles (18 hectares), to Lake Baikal, Russian Federation (8.8 million hectares), World Heritage forest sites have a total surface area of over 75 million hectares, or 1.5 times the surface area of ...

Women's Day is an occasion to celebrate the power of women, and the often overlooked role they play in society. World Heritage preservation is no different from any other sector - women play a crucial role in conservation, and their influence is increasing. Women are the caretakers of the sacred site the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi (Uganda). Female rangers protect Virunga National Park ...

This new UNESCO publication examines World Heritage and sustainable development in Africa. It addresses not only the challenges of safeguarding World Heritage in the Africa region but also the process of integrating the objectives of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into African regional and national policies as well as the African Union’s ‘Agenda 2063: the Africa We ...

A Capacity-Building Seminar was held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 18 to 20 October, 2017, for Managers of Eastern European sites. The practical Capacity-building Seminar took place over two days, during which were presented three thematic lectures given by international experts from World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS, ICCROM, accompanied by three leading practical workshops and individual case ...

The UNESCO Deputy Director-General, Getachew Engida, officially launched the BIOsphere and Heritage of Lake Chad (BIOPALT) project at the International Conference on Lake Chad, held on 26 February 2018. The BIOPALT project aims to increase knowledge of Lake Chad, restore wetlands, rehabilitate wildlife migration corridors and promote sustainable income-generating activities in Abuja, Nigeria. ...