News

The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Azoulay, expressed her sorrow and deep concern over the new armed attack, perpetrated in the morning of Wednesday 24 June 2020, against guards of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), inside the Virunga National Park, a property inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After the terrible ...

The Lopé National Park in Gabon is a site inscribed on the World Heritage List since 2007 under the name "Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda". It is described as mixed (nature/culture) because of its remarkable forest-savanna landscapes and its many vestiges of past cultures. Initial research in the 1980s led to the discovery of carved stone tools, revealing very ancient ...

As countries around the world grapple with COVID-19, the global pandemic also threatens our close evolutionary ‘cousins’ and one of the world’s most iconic threatened species - the mountain gorilla.  UNESCO’s Rapid Response Facility (RRF) has provided critical emergency support to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, to safeguard one of the world’s last remaining mountain gorilla populations ...

This year’s United Nations World Oceans Day – which is traditionally celebrated on 8 June – highlights the critical importance of innovation for a sustainable ocean.  From drone wildlife tracking in Russia’s Wrangel Island Reserve System to the use of artificial intelligence at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are spearheading scientific innovation in ways ...

UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., joined the Buganda Kingdom and local communities in mourning the serious destruction of one of the sacred houses (Abalongo) at the Tombs of Buganda Kings of Kasubi, following a devastating fire which took place on 5 June, in Uganda, a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000. "We are in contact with the ...

June 5th is World Environment Day. The foods we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable all come from nature. These are exceptional times, and to care for ourselves we must care for nature. A few projects: Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative The conservation, sustainable exploitation and management of forest sites in Central ...

On 2 June 2020, UNESCO successfully launched its first online international Expert Workshop on the Culture|2030 Indicators, with an opening speech by Mr Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture and Ms Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The Culture|2030 Indicators were developed in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for ...

UNESCO has welcomed the announcement by Bernard Looney, CEO of BP, that the energy giant will refrain from undertaking new oil and gas exploration or production activities within natural, cultural or mixed UNESCO World Heritage sites. The company has furthermore agreed to consult with UNESCO in case they consider such projects in buffer zones or other areas adjacent to World Heritage sites. ...

UNESCO expresses its deep concern over cyclone 'Amphan', which recently hit Bangladesh and eastern India, and wishes to express its deepest sympathy for the loss of human life and the material damage caused by this disaster, in solidarity with the people affected. On 20 May 2020, cyclone Amphan made landfall across the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast, which includes two World Heritage ...