The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released the results of its rhinoceros census in Nepal, reporting a reported 23% increase in rhino numbers in this World Heritage site since the last census taken in 2008.  Numbers increased from 408 to 503. WWF reports that these numbers reflect the success of conservation efforts for this species and are a result of improved rhino ...

Following their meeting in UNESCO Headquarters, Paris 3-4 March 2011, a group of Afghan and international experts working on the safeguarding of Bamiyan (Afghanistan), as well as representatives of the Afghan and Japanese governments and UNESCO, released a list of recommendations for further activities to preserve the Bamiyan site.  Bamiyan remains one of the most important examples of ...

This conference was held in Rome December 3-5, 2008. The conclusions outlined below were reached thanks to contributions from ICCROM, UNESCO-WHC, UN-WTO, HERITY INTERNATIONAL Conclusions by the First HERITY Conference (December 5-9, 2006) highlighted that "from the point of view of culture, no poor Countries exist around the World: every territory has a significant and priceless Heritage ...

UNESCO invites Member States, Intergovernemental Organizations, NGOs, the Private Sector and Civil Society to a Conference designed to demonstrate the importance of culture as a motor for reconstruction in Haiti. The main objective of this conference is to inform the international community about the role of Culture in the Reconstruction of Haiti, the projects undertaken, the needs and ...

The call for applications for the IV° edition of the Master in "World Heritage at Work", offered by the University of Turin, the Polytechnic of Turin and the International Training Centre of ILO, in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, is now open. The programme is intended for professionals involved in the management of World Heritage properties and/or ...

The devastating March 11th earthquake that struck the coast of Japan created a powerful tsunami that ravaged the  coastline and brought tragedy to thousands of people. No World Heritage sites were affected in Japan and the tsunami spread rapidly across the Pacific during the course of the day. Properly warned, the people of Galápagos (13,000 km from Japan) ...

The latest version of the World Heritage Map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and National Geographic Maps with support from Ministry of Culture of the  Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Nations Foundation, can now be ordered for a modest fee from the World Heritage Centre website to recover mailing costs. The Map is an extremely valuable learning and awareness-raising tool ...

Since the Kingdom of Bahrain became for the first time a member of the prestigious World Heritage Committee in 2007, one of the objectives has been to welcome the distinguished delegates of the States Parties to the Convention in our country. For the last four years, all the Bahraini authorities have been working on the preparation of this exceptional event and ...

Kishore Rao has been appointed Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. An expert in forestry and natural resources policy and planning, Mr Rao has been Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre since 2005, and has, in addition to overall management and programme coordination responsibilities, led the Centre's work on natural heritage protection. Mr Rao has Master's Degrees in ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today called on both Libya and the coalition of States implementing a no-fly zone over the country to respect the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) and its two (1954 and 1999) Protocols, as appropriate, and keep military operations away from cultural sites. Of the ten states that make up ...

In view of the forthcoming 11th World Congress of the Organization of World Heritage Cities in Sintra (Portugal), 22 to 25 November 2011, the OWHC has launched a Call for Posters on the congress theme World Heritage Cities and Climate Change. This Call addresses all those who are engaged in the conservation and management of a World Heritage City - public servants and administrators, ...

Following the kind invitation of the World Heritage Centre, I had the great pleasure to attend the meeting entitled "Follow-up to the Second Cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Arab States: Regional Meting for the Elaboration of the Regional Programme", held in Rabat (Kingdom of Morocco), from 7 to 9 March 2011. This meeting was a unique opportunity for me, as Chairperson of the World ...

From 2008 to 2010, the Arab States Parties to the World Heritage Convention undertook the Periodic Reporting exercise, consisting in assessing the implementation of the Convention in their countries and in each of their sites inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Periodic Report was presented to the 34th session of the World Heritage Committee in Brasilia, in July 2010, and was warmly ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that the government of the DRC has suspended prospection for oil at Virunga National Park , inscribed as on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1979. "I welcome the suspension of exploration activities. This ...

Due to the prevailing situation in the Kingdom of Bahrain and following consultations with Bahraini authorities, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has decided to change the venue of the forthcoming 35th session of the World Heritage Committee from its initially planned location in Bahrain's capital Manama, to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. This decision was reached following the ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its condolences for the loss of lives due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami which occurred near Japan on 11 March. Immediately following the events, Francesco Bandarin, interim Director of the World Heritage Centre and UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, contacted Mr Isao Kiso, Ambassador of Japan to UNESCO, expressing ...

Minor damage has been reported at Galápagos Islands World Heritage site following the earthquake and tsunami that occurred off the coast of Japan on 11 March.  The tsunami struck at high tide, and manifested itself as a series of marine surges, rising over 1.7 metres above the normal high water mark, flooding coastal buildings. Residents of Galapagos had been warned and had taken ...

[in French only] Vie de la CFU * Réunion de bilan technique, 3 Février 2011, UNESCO, Paris* Rapport sur les possibilités de financement européen pour les projets cultureles et développement Actualités sur l'avancement des projets cfu : * Le projet « NIGER - LOIRE : Gouvernance et Culture » se poursuit au Mali* ...

The second title within the World Heritage Resource Manuals Preparing World Heritage Nominations (First Edition, 2010) series has just been published. It is a joint undertaking by the three Advisory Bodies of the World Heritage Convention (ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The aim of this Resource Manual is to help States Parties to achieve good quality World ...

Afghan officials and international experts outlined plans for the future safeguarding of the Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan) at the end of two meetings at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 2 to 4 of March. The meetings were held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the tragic destruction of the giant Buddha statues of Bamiyan. The ...