This year marks the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, one of UNESCO's most successful programmes and one of the most powerful tools for heritage preservation. Almost universally adopted, with 188 signatory countries, the Convention is unique in that it combines the protection of cultural and natural heritage in one instrument. Since its adoption by the General Conference of ...

On November 16, 1972, the international community took a historic step towards safeguarding core, irreplaceable elements of our global heritage when the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the World Heritage Convention. Since then, more than 188 countries have ratified the Convention, and more than 936 separate sites around the world have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. As ...

From 7 to 9 November 2011, experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) undertook an advisory mission to examine development projects affecting the World Heritage site "Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Sevilla", inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1987. At its three last sessions, the World Heritage Committee discussed the state of ...

The Côte d’Ivoire component of the transboundary Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve, inscribed onto the list of World Heritage in Danger, has been awarded a Rapid Response Facility (RRF) small grant to help re-establish the presence of the protected area authority.  Recent civil strife in this country had led to the abandonment of site management offices in the area.  The ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic have released an online version of the 2012 World Heritage Calendar in five languages. It is available as a website, or as a downloadable stand-alone application or wallpaper. As the year 2012 is the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the World Heritage Convention, the calendar is expected to raise even more interest than the very popular 2011 ...

Read our newsletter to learn about our major accomplishments, including new services that will help improve marine protection efforts around the globe. Additionally, this year we celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Mission of the World Heritage Marine Programme Launched in 2005, the mission of the World Heritage Marine Programme is to establish effective ...

40 years of protection, 188 States Parties, 936 World Heritage Sites. Join us for the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention as we highlight the role of local communitites in sustainable development. //

Call for Projects concrete actions for the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention The UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service (CCIVS) is pleased to announce the call for projects for the World Heritage Volunteers 2012.After 4 years of fruitful experiences with 78 successful projects at 43 sites, ...

Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė) World Heritage site has been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which held its sixth meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 14 to 16 December. The status had also been requested for two World Heritage sites in Azerbaijan: Walled City of Baku with the ...

While exact details of the route are still under cover, it has been announced that the Olympic Torch will be carried through Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage site (United Kingdom). The torch will be carried over the iron bridge which has stood for hundreds of years as a symbol of the Industrial Revolution and will then be carried along the River Severn before travelling on to Telford. The ...

The Government of Italy has granted 400,000€ to support a new UNESCO project to build capacity for safeguarding cultural heritage in Myanmar. The contribution will allow UNESCO to mobilize international expertise to assist Myanmar in protecting important heritage sites in the country, in particular, the ancient Pyu settlements dating back almost two millennia and Bagan, one of the ...

Since Palestine was admitted to UNESCO on 31 October, there have been several misleading media reports about the status of Palestinian cultural heritage sites.  Here is how UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee works and what it has done with respect to cultural sites in Palestine. The World Heritage Committee inscribes sites it considers to be of “outstanding universal value.” Nominations must ...

The two-year partnership signed between Panasonic and the World Heritage Centre in June 2011 aims to promote sustainable development and increase environmental awareness. In addition to the World Heritage Eco Learning Programme dedicated to teaching the next generation about the importance of heritage preservation using 3D-related audiovisual equipment and technical support, site visits and ...

Midway through a discussion on risk analysis, someone jumps to their feet and shouts “ELEPHANTS!!” and within a matter of seconds the classroom is deserted. For the next few minutes, the participants in Earthwatch’s Business Skills for World Heritage programme can be found lined up along Mpala Research Centre’s electric fence watching the herd pass on the far side of the river. The ...

UNESCO and Italy have agreed to collaborate on the restoration of the Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1997. International attention turned to the World Heritage site in late 2010, when torrential rains led to the collapse of several vestiges including the Schola Armaturarum (Gladiators' House) and the equally ...

Leading lights in science, technology, conservation and heritage interpretation descended upon Edinburgh on 23 November 2011 for a unique conference on how new technology could help protect fragile landscapes while giving greater public access to them. ‘I Know Where I'm Going: Remote Access to World Heritage Sites from St Kilda to Uluru’ was held from 23 to 24 November, with a keynote speech ...

To launch the 40th anniversary celebrations of the World Heritage Convention, UNESCO offered the World Heritage iPhone/iPad application (app) free for one day. On Wednesday, 16 November the app was downloaded 13,343 times from the Apple iTunes store. It proved to be most popular in France, the United States and China. An update of the App, which now features the 25 new sites added to the ...

On 16 November 2011, Kishore Rao, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, presented a certificate to German Minister for Environment Norbert Röttgen and the State Ministers recognizing the inscription of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany on the World Heritage List. The ceremony was held in Berlin, Germany and included representatives ...

The World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the publication of the World Heritage Paper #30:  “Adapting to Change – The State of Conservation of World Heritage Forests in 2011” as a contribution to the 2011 United Nations International Year of Forests. There are 104 World Heritage sites that have been recognized at least in part for their forest values.   These range from the 20 hectare ...

In June 2011 UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and Turismo de Portugal, the Portuguese Tourism Authority, signed an agreement engaging in a cooperation project on capacity-building for tourism management in World Heritage sites of Portuguese origin. This project is an integral part of the continuous cooperation that is being carried out by the World Heritage Centre and Portugal, ...