2386 news
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
After fifteen years of grassroots youth activities and international cooperation, and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Initiative meet the challenge of ‘The Next 50’ years to involve young people, communities and site managers in building together new, inclusive societies where World Heritage is a source of ...
2 min read
Monday, 28 November 2022
From 21 to 26 September 2022, nearly 100 youth from local schools collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples across the Wadden Sea World Heritage area as part of a global UNESCO initiative to better understand how climate change is affecting marine biodiversity.
Ocean species shed DNA into the water around them in the form of genetic material from waste, mucus or cells. Just one liter of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 23 November 2022
“The Global Research and Action Agenda on Culture, Heritage, and Climate Change: Scientific Outcome of the International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage, and Climate Change”, the result of collaboration between UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is now available online.
This ...
4 min read
Wednesday, 23 November 2022
In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, known as the 1972 Convention, the UNESCO Cluster Office in San José collaborated with the National Museum of Costa Rica in the framework of a World Heritage Festival, which took place on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November at the headquarters ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
The Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting started in Europe and North America with a two-day online event (20-21 October) that brought together the national focal points for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in the region.
In this year of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention that UNESCO has chosen to celebrate under the theme ‘World Heritage as a source of ...
2 min read
Friday, 4 November 2022
UNESCO World Heritage sites demonstrate the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage and are important resources for traditional knowledge and practices and lead the way for heritage-based solutions and strategies. UNESCO is at the forefront of collecting data and evidence concerning climate change's impact on culture. Through the World Heritage Canopy platform, heritage-based solutions ...
4 min read
Friday, 4 November 2022
This expert mission is part of the collaboration offered by the Director-General of UNESCO during her official visit to the World Heritage site "Historic District of the Port City of Valparaíso", which took place in May 2022.
The objective is to provide the Chilean Government and the Municipal Corporation for the Administration of the World Heritage Site with technical advice to help guide ...
2 min read
Thursday, 3 November 2022
New UNESCO data highlight the accelerated melting of glaciers in World Heritage sites, with glaciers in a third of sites set to disappear by 2050. But it is still possible to save the other two thirds, if the rise in global temperatures does not exceed 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period. This will be a major challenge for COP27.
play_arrow
play_arrow Watch
50 UNESCO World ...
4 min read
Tuesday, 1 November 2022
From 19 to 25 October 2022, the Monaco Explorations mission conducted a series of scientific operations around Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles) with the aim of better understanding and protecting the coral reefs of this UNESCO World Marine Heritage site and promoting youth involvement. On this occasion, H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Aldabra Atoll on 24 and 25 October. The site was one ...
3 min read
Monday, 31 October 2022
The 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) is a perfect herald for the theme of the 2022 World Cities Day, “Act local to go global”. The HUL Recommendation provides a global approach based on shared principles and tools that supports historic cities in developing sustainable urban models adapted to local conditions.
In line with this vision, the World ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Gathered in Yaoundé (Cameroon) at the invitation of the Government of Cameroon, the ministers and experts in charge of World Heritage from eight countries in Central Africa (Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Sao Tomé and Principe) called on UNESCO and its partners, including the African World Heritage Fund, to support them in ...
3 min read
Monday, 24 October 2022
Following the visit of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Antonio Guterres to the World Heritage site of Moenjodaro on 8 September 2022, two experts designated by UNESCO jointly with the national authorities will start their emergency missions to Archaeological Ruins of Moenjodaro and to Historical Monuments at Makli, Thatta, two World Heritage properties in Pakistan which have ...
1 min read
Friday, 21 October 2022
UNESCO and the Development Fund of Protected Areas (DFPA) of Georgia have signed an agreement to support sustainable tourism and heritage conservation activities in Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands (Georgia) World Heritage site.
The partnership between UNESCO and DFPA, worth around US$ 150 000, will support Georgia’s sustainable tourism recovery through enhancing visitor management and ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 11 October 2022
President Zelensky made official the candidacy of the historic centre of Odesa for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in a speech to the Organization’s Executive Board on Tuesday afternoon. Receiving the application, Audrey Azoulay, the Organization’s Director-General, stressed that “this initiative marks confidence in UNESCO's protection mechanisms.”
President Zelensky made the ...
3 min read
Thursday, 29 September 2022
On 29 and 30 September 2022, UNESCO organised the second online meeting for UNESCO’s Dive into Heritage project, with the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
UNESCO is currently developing the “Dive into Heritage” platform, an online tool to make World Heritage and its related intangible heritage more accessible to the general public through digital data. During its pilot phase the ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of 1972 World Heritage Convention, UNESCO is exhibiting a collection of images of World Heritage sites.
More than one hundred outstanding photographs are displayed around the UNESCO gates, offering a unique panorama of the diversity of the World Heritage sites. A selection of works by the photographer Yan Bighetti de Flogny, retracing his journey of ...
1 min read
World Heritage City Lab: concluding the 10th Anniversary of the UNESCO HUL Recommendation in Córdoba
Friday, 23 September 2022
World Heritage City Lab: concluding the 10th Anniversary of the UNESCO HUL Recommendation in Córdoba
On 12, 13 and 14 September 2022, the World Heritage City Lab concluded the 10th Anniversary of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) celebrations in Córdoba, Spain.
This concluding event was organised by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, World ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 21 September 2022
50 Years of UNESCO World Heritage in partnership with National Geographic
For 50 years now, UNESCO World Heritage has been a source of resilience, humanity and innovation. Through 30 splendid photographs, accompany us on a virtual world tour, focused on the future and youth.
Temporal Illusion, Pyramids of Giza, UNESCO World Heritage, Cairo, Egypt, 2018
Memphis and its ...
7 min read
Europe and North America region starts the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting exercise this September
Wednesday, 21 September 2022
As foreseen by the World Heritage Convention in its Article 29, Periodic Reporting is a global conservation monitoring mechanism that aims to give the key stakeholders of World Heritage properties, i.e. World Heritage site managers and focal points responsible for the implementation of the Convention at national level, an opportunity to reflect on the implementation of the World Heritage ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 7 September 2022
From 19-20 July 2022, a two-day workshop on “Sustainable Tourism Strategy for World Heritage Properties in Suriname” was organized which brought together representatives of government institutions, World Heritage site managers, and representatives of local communities to identify current challenges and opportunities for the development of sustainable tourism at UNESCO-designated sites. The ...
3 min read
Thursday, 1 September 2022
UNESCO expresses its deep regret at the passing of Ms. Corinne Forest, who passed away in France on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. Ms. Forest was the Head of the Technical Unit at the Aapravasi Ghat, Mauritius (World Heritage property, inscribed in 2006), a museologist by training and an ardent defender of World Heritage.
"Corinne Forest was a remarkable professional, with a sharp mind and ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 24 August 2022
A training workshop was organized in Cairo, Egypt, to strengthen the capacities of heritage site managers and for those developing projects in and around heritage sites to train them in applying Impact Assessments in a World Heritage context. Impact assessments is an important tool to find the best possible solutions to meet both conservation priorities and development needs in the framework ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
In January 2005, Sierra Leone became a State party to the 1972 Convention and identified, in 2012, in its first Tentative List the sites that could potentially be proposed for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. This year, in January 2022, this Tentative List was updated to include Gola-Tiwai complex as the potential site for the country’s first nomination dossier.
Being among the ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 23 August 2022
On the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in Saint Domingue, today the Republic of Haiti, saw the beginning of the uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.
It is against this background that the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition is commemorated on 23 August each year. It was first celebrated in a number of ...
1 min read
Friday, 12 August 2022
The Historic Cairo was Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. Tucked away amid the modern urban area of Cairo lies one of the world's oldest Islamic cities, with its famous mosques, madrasas, hammams and fountains. It is also the place of origin for many expressions of craftsmanship, showing the synergies between the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the 2003 Convention for the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 11 August 2022
On 13 July 2022, experts in coral bleaching preparedness and local management teams from UNESCO World Heritage coral reefs met online to share best practices to recognize bleaching alerts and rapidly deploy monitoring and evaluation measures during such events.
Coral reefs have been increasingly exposed to heat stress in recent years due to rising temperatures that result from climate ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 9 August 2022
By resolution 49/214 of 23 December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples shall be observed on 9 August every year. The date marks the day of the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. In 1990, the UN General ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 2 August 2022
WHITRAP Secretariat General launches the 2nd edition of the Awards for World Heritage Education Innovative Cases on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.
The objective is to build an international exchange platform focusing on innovative World Heritage Education case studies, and to provide action guidelines and references for practitioners of World Heritage ...
Friday, 29 July 2022
UNESCO and the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee have issued new guidance for assessing impacts from projects that could potentially affect the planet’s most precious heritage places. Designed specifically for heritage management institutions, governments and project developers, it aims to help find the best possible solutions to meet both conservation priorities and development ...
4 min read
Friday, 29 July 2022
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to launch the 2022 edition of the Patrimonito Storyboard Competition.
This competition aims to provide young people with an opportunity to use their creative and problem-solving skills to raise awareness about World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Education Programme is welcoming secondary school pupils and youth to create storyboards on the ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
From the intertwining roots to the tips of the branches, in a complex habitat, many species come to feed and reproduce, forming together one of the most flourishing ecosystems in existence. And we humans depend on these environments that slow down coastal erosion and are a source of food for many.
This is probably why the Colombian poet Tomas Gonzalez made it the symbol of his poetry ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 19 July 2022
In June 2022, the Resilient Reefs Initiative was launched in Palau with the appointment of its first Chief Resilience Officer and Resilience Advisor. The Chief Resilience Officer will be tasked with bringing local communities, businesses, NGOs, and tourism operators together in an effort to build an inclusive resilience strategy for this globally outstanding World Heritage coral reef.
The ...
2 min read
Monday, 18 July 2022
Dr Michael Jansen was a scholar and professor in conservation engineering, and the Managing Director of the German University of Technology | GUtech · Urban Planning and Architectural Design in Oman.
"We pay tribute to the memory of Michael Jansen and for the immense contribution he made to safeguarding heritage of many countries. He has been involved for decades as expert in heritage ...
1 min read
Monday, 18 July 2022
With the support of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a first online workshop on the future UNESCO’s Dive into Heritage platform entitled “Expert Workshop on the Dive into Heritage platform’s scientific content” was organised by UNESCO on the 12th and 13th of July 2022.
UNESCO is working on the creation of a new web tool “Dive into Heritage,” a comprehensive platform that will host digital data of ...
2 min read
Friday, 15 July 2022
On 27 -28 June 2022, UNESCO's World Heritage Centre organized an experts meeting on Modern Heritage of Africa and the 1972 World Heritage Convention, with the aim to integrate the modern heritage concept into World Heritage in the African context and provide a new conceptual understanding from an African perspective. It builds upon the work already done in the Centre regarding Modern Heritage ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 6 July 2022
With support from the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust, a hybrid-format Stakeholder Consultation Dialogue “Towards Developing Sustainable Livelihoods in the East Rennell World Heritage Site” was co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and UNESCO in Honiara on 31 May 2022.
Building on community meetings organised in East Rennell between 28 April and 1 May ...
2 min read
Monday, 4 July 2022
On 4 July 2022, the Scientific Advisory Board of the environmental DNA initiative convened for the first time, sharing crucial recommendations as UNESCO prepares the global roll-out of the citizen science initiative.
The project “Environmental DNA Expeditions in UNESCO World Heritage Marine Sites” is guided by an international Scientific Advisory Board that brings together some of the ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 29 June 2022
A series of online workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with ICOMOS to support Iraq in its efforts towards the conservation of World Heritage properties, particularly those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Within the framework of the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust project for 'Strengthening capacities in state of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 29 June 2022
UNESCO Member States are invited to complete the survey to report on their implementation of the 2011 Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) based on an assessment of the situation for the period 2019-2022. In 2022, the survey contains two sections: Section A, concerning the implementation of the HUL Recommendation at national level, and Section B, concerning the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
UNESCO is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training of Madagascar (METFP) for the creation of green jobs to tackle youth unemployment and strengthen the protection of Rainforests of the Atsinanana, UNESCO World Natural Heritage site.
Located in the south-east of Madagascar, Andohahela straddles Fort-Dauphin and Amboasary Sud in Anosy ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
On 28 June 2022, the UNESCO eDNA initiative was featured at the United Nations Oceans Conference in Lisbon (Portugal), during a side event which showcased ambitious science-based initiatives that inform policy.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) has the potential to revolutionize marine biodiversity assessments. This could save marine World Heritage site managers' precious time and resources, while at ...
1 min read
Friday, 24 June 2022
According to a new count, 152 cultural sites in Ukraine have been partially or totally destroyed since the beginning of the war. UNESCO reiterates its call to respect international law, and continues its actions in support of cultural professionals in the field.
On Thursday, UNESCO published an updated assessment of the damage caused to cultural sites in Ukraine since 24 February 2022, when ...
2 min read
Thursday, 23 June 2022
In the last 12 months, 145 cities, institutions and individuals have signed up to the HUL Call for Action to raise awareness about the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) and to accelerate inclusive urban and heritage management. Responses came from 59 countries from all regions of the world. They included stakeholders from academia, cultural institutions, the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 23 June 2022
Equinor, one of the leading energy companies and an important player in the oil and gas sector and the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), a leading standard-setting organization for the jewellery and watch industry, have confirmed their commitments to safeguard World Heritage sites.
With an aim to preserve biodiversity and sensitive areas, and to reverse nature loss by 2030, Equinor ...
3 min read
Thursday, 23 June 2022
Between February and March 2022, UNESCO supported the emergency clearing of the riverbeds of the Jam and Hari Rivers along the side of the Minaret of Jam World Heritage property in Afghanistan, to prevent the impact of seasonal flash floods.
The Minaret of Jam was the first Afghan site inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, in 2002. Due to its fragility, it was immediately placed on the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
In line with UNESCO’s Priority Africa, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) is supporting 10 African countries without inscribed World Heritage properties (Burundi, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan) through the “Capacity-building programme for the nomination of World Heritage sites in the Africa Region,” ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
Under the presidency of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat has set up the programme "I discover my heritage" for the benefit of 3720 secondary school students from 62 secondary schools in Rabat in partnership with the Ministry of National Education, Preschool and Sports and the Ministry of Youth, Culture and ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 8 June 2022
The project “Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites”, funded by the government of Japan through the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust, will be carried out from 2022 to 2024.
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to national lockdowns and global travel restrictions and to the closure of ...
2 min read
Saturday, 4 June 2022
As we celebrate 50 years of global environmental action for the anniversary of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, a side-event commemorated the birth and achievements of four key biodiversity-related Conventions adopted in the 1970s: the Ramsar Convention, the World Heritage Convention, CITES and the Convention on Migratory Species.
Watch the event ...
2 min read
Friday, 3 June 2022
A fire in Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest, burning for over two months, escalated to uncontrolled levels on the northern slopes in February. The Rapid Response Facility (RRF), a UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna and Flora International joint initiative providing small grants in emergency situations affecting biodiversity within natural World Heritage sites mobilized US$40,000 to ...
2 min read
Thursday, 2 June 2022
Resilience and Re-mobilization towards World Heritage
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the selected projects of the World Heritage Volunteers 2022 Campaign!
Under the theme Resilience and Re-mobilization towards World Heritage, 59 action camp projects will be implemented from June to December 2022 at 56 World Heritage properties and sites on the Tentative Lists, by 44 ...
1 min read
Monday, 30 May 2022
In recent decades, Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, has been a major target for poachers greedy for ivory and bushmeat. In response to these threats, UNESCO contributed to the management efforts undertaken in the Park by strengthening the ecological monitoring of key wild species (elephants and giraffes) and by ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
With support from the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust, community meetings were held in each of the four villages in the East Rennell World Heritage site on 28 April and 1 May 2022, to explore potential nature-based, sustainable livelihoods in East Rennell that would be compatible with the World Heritage values.
East Rennell is the first natural property inscribed on the World Heritage List ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 24 May 2022
On 9 May 2022, UNESCO organized an online meeting to discuss the removal of African properties from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Despite the richness and diversity of Africa’s cultural and natural heritage, the Sub-Saharan African region is one of the least represented regions on the World Heritage List, but still registers the highest number of endangered properties.
The meeting ...
2 min read
Monday, 23 May 2022
The International Centre for the Interpretation and Presentation of World Heritage Sites as a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO was officially established in the Republic of Korea, on 23 May 2022.
The Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr Ernesto Ottone R., signed the final Agreement for this UNESCO Category 2 Centre, together with Mr Eung-chon CHOI, Administrator of the ...
1 min read
Friday, 20 May 2022
UNESCO and Gabon's National Parks Agency (ANPN) sign an agreement to support eco-tourism and income-generating activities in Lopé National Park.
The partnership between UNESCO and ANPN, worth US$ 200,000 over a period of two years, will help to materialize a long-term vision to support the communities living in the Lopé National Park to establish a link between eco-tourism and ...
2 min read
Friday, 20 May 2022
International Day for Biological Diversity 2022 is being celebrated under the theme: Building a shared future for all life.
This slogan is very fitting as the 1972 World Heritage Convention celebrates its 50th anniversary and we reflect on the next 50 years of the Convention and its shared future for all life.
It follows the 50th anniversary of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
African World Heritage Day is celebrated annually on the 5th of May to remember and acknowledge the importance of promoting and safeguarding the UNESCO World Heritage in Africa for the benefit of present and future generations. To celebrate the 7th edition of African World Heritage Day, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Paris, 17 May 2022 – The Principality of Monaco and UNESCO signed today a new 3-year partnership to strengthen the scientific research of marine sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List and to pave the way for the use of carbon credit to help finance sites’ conservation efforts.
The new 3-year partnership will explore how carbon credit can help finance on-site conservation action at select ...
2 min read
Monday, 9 May 2022
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) learned with sadness the news of the accidental explosion that devastated the Saratoga Hotel, in Havana, on May 6, causing a significant number of losses and injuries, as well as considerable damage.
The WHC expresses its most sincere condolences to the families of the victims, to the injured and to all Cubans.
“To address this terrible accident, we ...
1 min read
Monday, 9 May 2022
UNESCO expresses its deep regret at the passing of Amir Pašić.
Amir Pašić was an international scholar and professor of architecture, and the former Head of the Architectural Department of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) in Istanbul, Turkey.
"I would like to pay tribute to the memory of Amir Pašić and the incredible contribution he made to restoration and ...
1 min read
Thursday, 5 May 2022
Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of African World Heritage Day 5 May 2022.
Fifty years ago, the States Members of UNESCO met to adopt the World Heritage Convention, which to this day remains the cornerstone of international cultural cooperation.
In 1978, this essential instrument finally became operational when the first 12 sites were inscribed on ...
2 min read
Friday, 29 April 2022
UNESCO creates an online Geographic Information System to better protect World Heritage properties
The World Heritage Online Map Platform is a new online Geographic Information System (GIS) for World Heritage, funded by the Government of Flanders (Belgium) through the Flanders UNESCO Trustfund (FUT). The Europe and North America region has been chosen as a pilot for the development of this ...
1 min read
Monday, 25 April 2022
The report on the third regional workshop for Europe on “The Role of Visitor Centres in UNESCO Designated Sites,” held between 23 September and 2 October 2021, has been released. During online and in-presence activities, held in Ercolano, Italy, participants explored the role of visitor centres through a sustainable development lens and reflected on their potential as a catalyst for community ...
4 min read
Friday, 22 April 2022
The “Interpretive Planning at World Heritage Properties in Europe” report published by UNESCO presents the concept, methodology, and outcomes of the first regional training course on enhancing interpretive planning at World Heritage properties in Europe, held in 2021. The initiative aims to highlight the potential of heritage interpretation in transversally supporting the objectives of World ...
4 min read
Thursday, 21 April 2022
The call for applications to participate in the second regional course on interpretive planning at World Heritage properties (WH-Interp) is now open. You have until 18 May 2022, 12 pm CET to apply! The course organised by UNESCO in cooperation with Interpret Europe is mostly aimed at practitioners with a professional role in the management of World Heritage properties in Europe, especially ...
4 min read
Monday, 18 April 2022
In 1982, UNESCO’s General Conference established 18 April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites. The Day is promoted by ICOMOS globally, and the theme for 2022 is ‘Heritage and Climate.’
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, and among the greatest threats facing cultural and natural UNESCO World Heritage monuments and sites. One in three natural sites and one ...
2 min read
Thursday, 14 April 2022
All World Heritage-listed reefs are at risk of disappearing by the end of this century. On the occasion of the Our Ocean Conference in Palau, Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General, announces an emergency plan to give them the best chance of survival, with the support of the Global Fund for Coral Reefs. She also calls for an international mobilization to prevent coral reef ...
5 min read
Thursday, 7 April 2022
In response to the call to empower African experts working for World Heritage, UNESCO in partnership with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN launched the Mentorship Programme for African World Heritage Professionals on 16 February 2022 through an online event.
This Mentorship Programme is developed to better capacitate African World Heritage professionals through ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 6 April 2022
UNESCO and ICCROM held an online ceremony to mark the launch of their joint initiative “Improving Management Effectiveness of World Heritage in Africa” with representatives from UNESCO World Heritage, ICCROM, IUCN, the Ambassadors of Japan, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland, and other participants. This event marks the end of the first set of activities (from 6 December 2021 to 24 January ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 30 March 2022
From 27 to 30 March 2022, UNESCO undertook a pilot environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling campaign in the Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve World Heritage site (France), to prepare the global roll-out of its citizen science eDNA initiative.
Youth aged 7 to 11 years old from the school in Ota-Porto nearby the World Heritage area collected eDNA samples and ...
1 min read
Friday, 25 March 2022
On 8 and 10 February 2022, attacks involving improvised explosive devices resulted in the death of four rangers, two drivers, one instructor and one soldier, with 12 other individuals hospitalised with critical injuries in the W National Park in Benin, one of the components of the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger) inscribed on the World Heritage List.
The UNESCO Rapid ...
2 min read
Friday, 25 March 2022
UNESCO, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) will undertake a joint Advisory mission to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a component of the World Heritage site "Paris, banks of the Seine", from 28 to 29 March 2022, in order to assess the works in progress following ...
1 min read
Monday, 21 March 2022
Further to recent reports and inquiries, regarding the displacement of the Maasai people in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area World Heritage property, UNESCO wishes to recall that neither the World Heritage Committee – the intergovernmental body of 21 elected States governing the Convention – nor UNESCO Secretariat have at any time asked for the displacement of the Maasai people.
UNESCO ...
1 min read
Friday, 18 March 2022
The Secretariats of the world’s eight major biodiversity-related Conventions, including the World Heritage Convention, call for an inclusive post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to halt nature loss and deliver on the governments’ vision of living in harmony with nature by 2050. Failure to act would hamper the planet’s capacity to provide food, water and other benefits to people and make it ...
3 min read
Thursday, 17 March 2022
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) will undertake a mission to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from 21 to 30 March 2022 to assess its state of conservation and a long-term sustainability plan for its protection. The mission is at the invitation of Australia and in response to the request made by the World Heritage Committee at its most ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 15 March 2022
In the framework of the Third Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which started in September 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has organized two workshops (one in English and one in Spanish) for World Heritage site managers in the region.
These meetings, held respectively on 8 March (English) and 10 March (Spanish) 2022 online on the Zoom ...
1 min read
Thursday, 10 March 2022
UNESCO and the Government of Malawi have joined forces with an NGO Ripple Africa to support conservation of the exceptional fish biodiversity in Lake Malawi National Park World Heritage site. The project which was initiated thanks to Norway’s financial contribution to the World Heritage Fund focuses on supporting sustainable co-management of the fish resources as a key livelihood and heritage ...
1 min read
Thursday, 10 March 2022
Today is World Wildlife Day with the theme, “Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration.”
The 1972 World Heritage Convention makes an important contribution to protect species by giving an international protection status to areas and ecosystems which harbor the most remarkable species. The transnational mangrove ecosystem of the Sundarbans (Bangladesh) and the Sundarbans National ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 8 March 2022
Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, UNESCO has taken action within the framework of its mandate, in particular to protect culture. A new progress report was released on Tuesday.
“We must safeguard the cultural heritage in Ukraine, as a testimony of the past but also as a catalyst for peace and cohesion for the future, which the international community has a duty to protect and ...
2 min read
Thursday, 3 March 2022
Following the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Resolution on Aggression against Ukraine, and in light of the devastating escalation of violence, UNESCO is deeply concerned by developments in Ukraine and is working to assess damage across its spheres of competence (notably education, culture, heritage and information) and to implement emergency support actions.
The UNGA ...
4 min read
Thursday, 3 March 2022
Monitoring World Heritage site closures
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have taken measures to restrict movements of people and access to certain areas.
This includes the closure of natural and cultural World Heritage sites in the 167 countries they are located in. Please consider the following when reviewing the statistics:
The World Heritage Convention ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 1 March 2022
The 2021 UNESCO Marine World Heritage Annual Overview, made public today, summarises a year of conservation successes for marine World Heritage, but also underscores the urgent need for greater action to protect sites from the rapidly increasing threat of climate change.
Consistent with its mandate, the work of the UNESCO World Heritage Marine Programme concentrates on building resilience ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 23 February 2022
On 23 February 2022, an online Kick-Off Expert Meeting launched the UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust (JFiT) project “Support Silk Roads World Heritage Nomination(s) process” (Phase III). This event was co-organised by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), and brought together representatives of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, IICAS ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 22 February 2022
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and ICCROM launch a Call for Expressions of Interest for the Evaluation of the UNESCO World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (WHCBS)
For the 10th Anniversary of the adoption of the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (2011-2021), the World Heritage Committee, at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021), requested an evaluation of the WHCBS. In ...
1 min read
Monday, 21 February 2022
UNESCO expresses its deep regret at the passing of Abdoul Aziz Guissé, Director of Cultural Heritage of Senegal, in Dakar on 3 February 2022.
"I would like to pay tribute to the memory of Abdoul Aziz Guissé and to the immense contribution he made to the safeguarding of african heritage," said Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Culture. "His unwavering dedication ...
1 min read
Friday, 18 February 2022
Resilience and Re-mobilization towards World Heritage.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the Call for Projects for the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Campaign 2022 ‘Resilience and Re-mobilization towards World Heritage’.
In the wake of the pandemic which has highlighted the importance of carrying out community development hand-in-hand with World Heritage conservation, ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 15 February 2022
In response to recent large-scale outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds, the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) convened the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza and Wild Birds. Via a press release on 25 January 2022, the Task Force ...
1 min read
Monday, 14 February 2022
UNESCO expresses its full support to the families of the victims of two deadly attacks carried out on Tuesday 8 and Thursday 10 February 2022 against security guards on patrol in the W National Park in Benin, one of the components of the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger) inscribed on the World Heritage List.
"These deadly attacks that occurred at a World Heritage site, ...
1 min read
