2388 news
Monday, 16 June 2003
The letter follows the receipt of numerous individual letters and e-mails sent to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Wednesday, 26 March 2003
Paris - The Web site of the 27th session of the World Heritage Committee, which will take place in Suzhou (China), from the 29th of June to the 5th of July 2003, is now online at this address: http://www.27whc.org. The Web site is available in Chinese and English versions (French to come) and provides numerous useful information about the forthcoming session of the Committee, the organizing ...
Monday, 17 February 2003
A large fortified city under the influence of the Parthian Empire and capital of the first Arab Kingdom, Hatra withstood invasions by the Romans in A.D. 116 and 198 thanks to its high, thick walls reinforced by towers.
The remains of the city, especially the temples where Hellenistic and Roman architecture blend with Eastern decorative features, attest to the greatness of its civilization. ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 5 February 2003
On 20 January 2003, a fire broke out in the Ancient Building Complex in the Wudang Mountains in Hubei Province, China.
Two-and-a-half hours later, the Yuzhengong Palace was burned to the ground. No one was injured in the fire but many of the structures from the Ming dynasty (14th-17th centuries) were damaged.
Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994, the Ancient Building Complex ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 5 February 2003
Following decision from the President of Romania to halt the proposed development of the themepark "Draculaland" at the World Heritage site of the "Historic Centre of Sighisoara". WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEECHAIRMAN / PRESIDENT 6 February 2003 Excellency, In my capacity as Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee I would like to applaud the decision to halt the proposed ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 26 November 2002
Brussels - The Belgian Government and UNESCO signed an Agreement of Cooperation today, wishing to enhance their cooperation, especially between the Federal office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural affairs (OSTC) and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. “Through this Agreement, we will make available the Belgian know-how and the expertise of the Universities of Ghent and Louvain in the use ...
2 min read
Thursday, 12 September 2002
Special events and activities
Record of Decisions of the 26th session of the World Heritage Committee Budapest, Hungary, 24-29 June 2002
Budapest Declaration
World Heritage 2002: Shared Legacy, Common ResponsibilityAn International Congress organized by UNESCO with the support of the Government of Italy and under the patronage of the city of Venice on the occasion of the 30th anniversary ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 20 August 2002
From Mr Francesco Bandarin, Director of the World Heritage Centre We have noted with great concern, the news of massive floods sweeping across Europe and that a number of World Heritage sites in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary are threatened by the worst flooding in a century. I would like to transmit our solidarity with the regional crisis committees and the people of the ...
1 min read
Monday, 15 July 2002
The World Heritage Committee concluded its 26th session (24 to 29 June 2002) by adopting the Budapest Declaration on World Heritage, marking the 30th anniversary of the signing of the World Heritage Convention in 1972. Adopted in the presence of the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, and representatives of the Hungarian government, the Budapest Declaration recognizes the near ...
2 min read
Monday, 15 July 2002
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982, Tipasa on the shores of the Mediterranean, comprises Phoenician, Roman, palaeochristian and Byzantine ruins alongside indigenous monuments such as the Kbor er Roumia, the great royal mausoleum of Mauritania. An ancient Punic trading-post conquered by Rome, Tipasa turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of Mauritania. However, ...
1 min read
Monday, 1 July 2002
This map was produced by the Cartographic Section of the World Heritage Centre. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of UNESCO, any judgement on legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. January 2002 UNESCO World Heritage Centre.Legend:The grey points and triangles show World ...
Wednesday, 26 June 2002
Budapest, Hungary. The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Budapest since June 24, has inscribed today 9 new sites on the World Heritage List. The List now numbers 730 sites of "outstanding universal value" in 125 countries. For the first time, a site from Afghanistan appears on the List. The 9 inscriptions this year include only cultural sites.Simultaneously with its inscription ...
5 min read
Monday, 24 June 2002
Budapest, Hungary - 24 June 2002. The World Heritage Committee opened its 26th annual session in Budapest, Hungary, on Monday, 24 June. The opening session was attended by 320 participants representing all 21 Committee members, over 50 observers from States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, representatives from the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee (ICOMOS, IUCN, and ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 5 June 2002
Three States have recently signed the World Heritage Convention. This will bring the total of States Parties to the Convention to 170. The three States, with the dates on which they deposited their instrument of ratification or acceptance, are: Liberia 23 March 2002 Barbados 09 April 2002 Marshall Islands 24 April 2002 The Convention will come into force for the three countries three months ...
Tuesday, 9 April 2002
Important announcement for the visitors of the World Heritage Centre portal The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has established a new simpler web address: https://whc.unesco.org (without www) Web browsers using the old address will be automatically referred to the appropriate page on the new server.
Wednesday, 9 January 2002
The annual report of the du World Heritage Committee (Helsinki, Finland, 11 - 16 décember 2001) has been issued.
Thursday, 13 December 2001
Helsinki, Finland - 14 December 2001. The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Helsinki since December 11, has inscribed 31 new sites on the World Heritage List. The List now numbers 721 sites of "outstanding universal value" in 124 countries. For the first time, sites in Botswana and Israel appear on the List. The 31 inscriptions this year include six natural sites and 25 cultural ...
15 min read
Wednesday, 12 December 2001
Helsinki, Finland - In its annual review of the state of conservation of sites on the World Heritage List, the World Heritage Committee today decided to include two additional sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger, while at the same time removing a third site. As a result, the List of World Heritage in Danger now includes 31 properties. BRAZIL Iguacu National Park Committee agreed to ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 11 December 2001
Helsinki, Finland - The World Heritage Committee opened its 25th annual session in Helsinki, Finland, on Tuesday, 11 December. The meeting, hosted by the Finnish Government, was opened by the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura; the President of Finland, Ms Tarja Halonen, and the Finnish ministers of Culture and Environment. The opening session was attended by 280 participants ...
4 min read
Tuesday, 30 October 2001
Paris. The General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention opened Tuesday, 30 October 2001 at 10 a.m. in the presence of the majority of the States Parties to the Convention. After the opening of the session by Mounir Bouchenaki, UNESCO ADG Culture and representative of the Director General, Samuel Fernandéz Illanes, Ambassador of Chile to UNESCO, was elected ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 30 October 2001
Paris - The 13th session of the General Assembly of the State Parties of the World Heritage Convention ended on the 31st October with the election of eight new members of the World Heritage Committee. The following States Parties were elected:
Argentina
India
Lebanon
Nigeria
Oman
Russian Federation
Saint Lucia
United Kingdom
1 November 2001: Fifth Extraordinary session of ...
Friday, 26 October 2001
Paris - The Thirteenth General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention will take place this week at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The bi-annual two-day meeting, which opens Tuesday, is an opportunity for all of the countries which have signed the Convention to take part in its governance. Provisional AgendaParticipation: In accordance with Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure ...
1 min read
Friday, 22 June 2001
The twenty-fifth session of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee will open on Monday, 25 June for its annual six-day meeting at UNESCO Headquarters. The seven Bureau members, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, Finland, Morocco, Thailand, and Zimbabwe will be joined by observer delegations from many other States Parties to the Convention, as well as representatives from the Advisory Bodies ...
1 min read
Thursday, 21 June 2001
Paris - The World Heritage Committee will hold its 26th annual session from June 24 to 29 in Budapest, Hungary, during which it will inscribe new sites on the World Heritage List and review the List of World Heritage in Danger. The intergovernmental World Heritage Committee consists of 21 members elected by the General Assembly of the 172 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. The ...
2 min read
Thursday, 30 November 2000
Cairns - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting since November 27 in Cairns, Australia, has inscribed 61 new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage.
The List now has 690 sites of "exceptional universal value" in 122 countries. Sites in Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Nicaragua and Suriname are on the List for the first time. Ten of the new sites are properties inscribed for natural ...
21 min read
Wednesday, 29 November 2000
Cairns - On the third day of its 24th session, the World Heritage Committee added three sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger. The three sites, the Historic Town of Zabid (Yemen), the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (Senegal) and the Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore (Pakistan), were the subject of extensive discussion during the previous day's deliberations on the state of ...
2 min read
Monday, 27 November 2000
Cairns, Australia - The World Heritage Committee today opened its 24th annual session in Cairns, Australia. The meeting, hosted by the Australian Federal government and the government of the State of Queensland, was attended by over 320 people.
The meeting was attended by all twenty-one members of the World Heritage Committee: Australia, Belgium, Benin, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, ...
5 min read
Wednesday, 15 November 2000
The World Heritage Committee will hold its 24th annual session from November 27 to December 2 in Cairns, Australia, during which it will inscribe new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List and review the List of World Heritage in Danger. The intergovernmental World Heritage Committee consists of 21 States Parties elected for a term of six years by the General Assembly of the ...
2 min read
Friday, 20 October 2000
Paris - UNESCO's 58-member Executive Board - whose 157th session opened on October 5 - today nominated, in the third round of voting, Koichiro Matsuura as its candidate for the post of UNESCO Director-General, to replace the present Director General Federico Mayor at the end of his second 6-year mandate. Mr Matsuura's candidacy will be submitted to the approval of UNESCO's General Conference ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 7 March 2000
The President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, announced on 2 March 2000 that the development of the proposed saltworks at San Ignacio would not proceed.
The decision was made following the international UNESCO expert mission to the site in August 1999. The results of the mission were presented to, and adopted by, the World Heritage Committee at its twenty-third session held in Marrakesh ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 8 December 1999
The World Heritage Committee at its twenty-third session held in Marrakesh (Morocco) from 29 November to 4 December 1999, adopted the conclusions and recommendations of the mission of international experts sent to the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (Mexico). The Committee endorsed the main findings of the mission's report which "concluded that the World Heritage site under present ...
2 min read
Thursday, 2 December 1999
Marrakesh - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting since November 29 in Marrakesh (Morocco), has inscribed 48 new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List.
The List now has 630 sites of "exceptional universal value" in 118 countries. Sites in South Africa, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Turkmenistan are on the List for the first time.
Notable among the new sites are ...
16 min read
Tuesday, 30 November 1999
Marrakesh - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting in Marrakech (Morocco) since November 29, has today included four new sites on its List of World Heritage in Danger. They are the Iguacu National Park (Brazil), the Rwenzori Mountains (Uganda), the Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the Groups of Monuments at Hampi (India). The inclusion of the Iguacu National ...
3 min read
Monday, 29 November 1999
Marrakesh - The 23rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Marrakesh, Morocco, was informed today that the United Nations Foundation (UNF) would contribute $2.9 million to World Heritage sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project, "Biodiversity Conservation in Regions of Armed Conflict: Protecting World Natural Heritage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo", ...
3 min read
Monday, 12 July 1999
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in an Extraordinary meeting today welcomed efforts by the Australian government to help resolve the controversy surrounding uranium mining and milling in an enclave within the Kakadu National Park which, some claim, endangers this unique archaeological and ethnological site.
The Committee decided not to inscribe the site, which has been on the World Heritage ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 25 May 1999
Second letter from the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee to the Environmental Groups concerning the Whale Sanctuary of El Viscaino
Friday, 4 December 1998
The letter follows the receipt of about 30,000 petitions received and numerous individual letters and e-mails sent to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Letter sent by the Chairman of the World Heritage Committee to the Environmental Groups concerning the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (Mexico)
Wednesday, 2 December 1998
Kyoto,Japan - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting in Kyoto since November 30, has added 30 new sites and one extension to its World Heritage List of cultural and natural sites, bringing the number of listed sites of "exceptional universal value" to 582 in 114 countries. For the first time, the List includes sites located in Belgium and the Solomon Islands. Among this year's ...
11 min read
Tuesday, 1 December 1998
Kyoto, (Japan) - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee today announced it removed the Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia) and the Wieliczka Salt Mines (Poland) from its List of World Heritage in Danger due to the success of measures undertaken for their restoration and preservation. Dubrovnik, the Dalmatian Coast city dubbed "the pearl of the Adriatic" and dotted with beautiful Gothic, ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 25 November 1998
Paris - UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee will hold its annual meeting from November 30 to December 5 in Kyoto (Japan) at the close of which it will inscribe new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger. Alongside the 22nd session of the Committee, UNESCO is organising another event in Japan the International World Heritage Youth Forum ...
3 min read
Monday, 27 April 1998
At 3.30 AM on Saturday 25th April 1998 the south coast of Spain was host to what has been dubbed the worst environmental disaster in Europe. A supporting wall of the reservoir containing the toxic wastes of the Aznalcollar mine burst, releasing 5 million cubic metres of toxic mud and acidic water onto the surrounding landscape. The toxic waste entered the Agrio River, a tributary of the ...
1 min read
Sunday, 7 December 1997
The following sites have been inscribed on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee at its 21st session, meeting in Naples, Italy, 1-6 December, 1997. A total of 46 sites were inscribed: 7 natural sites; 38 cultural sites; and 1 mixed site. The work of the 21st Session thus brings the total number of sites on the World Heritage List to 552 (418 cultural, 114 natural and 20 ...
19 min read
Monday, 22 September 1997
Threats to World Heritage areas in Australia continues to claim media headlines. At the Kakadu World Heritage area the Australian Government is supporting the development of a new uranium mine. At present the Government is awaiting an environmental impact statement and negotiating with the local indigenous population who are opposing the mine. In the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area the ...
1 min read
Thursday, 18 September 1997
The organizers of a symposium on world cultural heritage, held in Hildesheim, Germany 23 February - 1 March 1997 have announced the publication of the proceedings of this symposium, entitled: "World Cultural Heritage: A Global Challenge." The work contains all the presentations and the resolution adopted at this week-long conference.Seven representative projects from all five continents ...
1 min read
Friday, 12 September 1997
Between 6 and 11 September, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, were threatened by a large brush fire, eventually consuming over 800 hectares of mountain forest. At one time more than 400 firefighters pumped water on the dense vegetation on the hills surrounding the World Heritage site to prevent the fire from reaching the ruins.
The fire was believed to have been started by local farmers ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 10 September 1997
We have opened the ICONS_L mailing list for discussing issues related to the International Conservation Networking System (ICONS), a relational database management system in support of networking on biodiversity and conservation issues, and for information management by indigenous and community-based organizations.ICONS provides basic structures for the management of bibliographies, ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 3 September 1997
Paris - UNESCO'S Director-General Federico Mayor launched yesterday in Maputo an international appeal to safeguard the Island of Mozambique. He also inaugurated, on behalf of the United Nations System, a trust fund to implement the Agenda for the Sustainable Development and Integral Conservation of the World Heritage Site of the Island of Mozambique. UNESCO is contributing US$100,000 to the ...
2 min read
Monday, 1 September 1997
The Ninth Forum of Ministers of Cultural Heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in Cartagena, Colombia from 27 to 30 June 1997 has formally endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of an expert meeting calling for the nomination of a multi-national "Fortifications in the Caribbean." The Ministers decided to support the initiative of Colombia to work towards the ...
1 min read
Thursday, 14 August 1997
Paris - UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor expressed sadness over the reported death yesterday of Raymond Lemaire, his special advisor and representative on the cultural heritage of Jerusalem.
"UNESCO has lost one of its most outstanding experts. No cultural site or monument in the world was foreign to Raymond Lemaire," Mr Mayor said. "He applied his great expertise as one of the editors ...
1 min read
Thursday, 24 July 1997
The National Center for Heritage Development with conference host, the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, announce Rally III for America's Real Places: Best Practices in Heritage Development and Cultural Tourism. If you would be interested in becoming a conference Sponsor, Partner or Exhibitor please contact the National Center at 202-885-8910 or by e-mail at nchd@al.net. ...
Saturday, 19 July 1997
Both ICOMOS and ICCROM have recently established new addresses on the World Wide Web. In addition to its site at www.icomos.org in North America, ICOMOS now also has a second site in Europe, www.international.icomos.org. Both sites contain the same materials, and users should choose the site which is closest to them for access.ICCROM, which until recently has shared space on the ICOMOS ...
1 min read
Monday, 7 July 1997
The Antiquities Development Project of the American Research Center in Egypt is committed to undertaking three dimensional architectural surveys at the two Monasteries of St. Paul and St Anthony and the Ottoman Fort at Quseir, by the Red Sea coast of Egypt. This is part of the conservation and restoration projects currently carried out by the Antiquities Development Project at these ...
1 min read