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Friday, 3 July 2015
The World Heritage Committee this morning approved the extension of two natural sites inscribed on the World Heritage List: Cape Floral Region Protected Areas in South Africa and Ke Bang National Park in Viet Nam. The Committee also inscribed Blue and John Crow Mountains in Jamaica, a mixed site, i.e. one that is both cultural and natural. With this inscription Jamaica enters the World ...
Thursday, 2 July 2015
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed two sites in Yemen on the List of World Heritage in Danger: the Old City of Sana’a and the Old Walled City of Shibam.
The Old City of Sana’a sustained serious damage due to armed conflict in the country. The neighbourhood of al Qasimi near the famous urban garden of Miqshamat al Qasimi sustained particularly serious damage. The 12th century ...
Wednesday, 1 July 2015
The World Heritage site of Hatra in Iraq has been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to damage inflicted to the property by armed groups.
During debates today, many World Heritage Committee members voiced concern about the state of Iraqi heritage following acts of intentional destruction. They also declared their willingness to help Iraq as soon as the situation on the ...
Wednesday, 1 July 2015
UNESCO and UNITAR (the UN Institute for Training and Research) have signed an agreement to protect cultural and natural heritage sites with the latest geo-spatial technologies. It was signed at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany, and will be delivered through UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT).
The strategic partnership will ...
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Significant improvements in the management of Los Katíos National Park in Colombia have allowed for the site to be removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The World Heritage Committee decided to lift danger listing for the property in recognition of steps taken by the national authorities to reduce illegal extraction of timber and overfishing.
The site was placed on the List of ...
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Three years after their destruction by extremists, the Timbuktu mausoleums are nearly restored through the extraordinary work carried out by local craftsmen and with international support. The announcement came at an event held in Bonn as part of the World Heritage Committee session taking place in the German city.
“The reconstruction of the mausoleums in Timbuktu is a fine example of the ...
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Iraq, a country in turmoil within a very unstable region, is fighting a cultural battle in the real sense of the word.
This special issue of World Heritage magazine presents the key heritage sites of Iraq, reflecting on their historical significance and importance for the Iraqi people and the world, as well as efforts by UNESCO and other stakeholders to protect these sites from destruction, ...
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
On 29 June, during the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany, the Chairs of the six UNESCO culture conventions* met for the first time to discuss ways to work together more effectively.
In the context of the 70th anniversary of UNESCO, this provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the future of the Organization’s standard-setting action in the face of contemporary ...
Monday, 29 June 2015
Bonn, 29 June—The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today launched the Global Coalition, Unite for Heritage, during the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Bonn, Germany. The campaign is designed to strengthen the mobilization of governments and all heritage stakeholders in the face of deliberate damage to cultural heritage, particularly in the Middle East.
“The ...
Sunday, 28 June 2015
Bonn (Germany) - An appeal for the international community to counter the new threat of violent extremism and cultural cleansing was issued at the opening of the World Heritage Committee, which opened its session in Bonn, Germany, today. The Committee will remain in session until 8 July under the chair of Maria Böhmer, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office and member of the ...
Thursday, 25 June 2015
The publication launched today, “Managing effectively the world’s most iconic Marine Protected Areas. A Best Practice Guide” lays the groundwork for a common approach to a more pro-active, future-oriented management of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world.
The step-by-step guidance shows how defining a clearer vision of what MPAs can and should look like in another 10 to 20 years ...
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans are essential to the visibility and viability of many biosphere reserves across Africa and Asia, according to an infographic release today by the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme.
Great apes are found in 21 Biosphere Reserve, ...
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
The World Heritage Centre and the History and Memory for Dialogue Section of UNESCO have learned with deep sadness of the recent passing of Professor Chahryar Adle, a long-time collaborator of UNESCO. Chahryar Adle (1943-2015) was an archaeologist and Iranologist, and a member of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He was also President of the International Scientific ...
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Kulturweit, a volunteer organization of the German Commission for UNESCO and the German Federal Foreign Office, has designed a card game called “World Heritage in Germany-Memory”.
The inspiration came from Kulturweit members who were delegates to the 2014 World Heritage Youth Forum held in Qatar.
The goal of the game is to teach young people about German World Heritage sites.
The German ...
Thursday, 18 June 2015
[in French only] Du 29 juin au 10 juillet 2015, 13 gestionnaires de sites patrimoniaux issus de 11 pays (Burkina Faso, Colombie, Comores, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Irak, RDP Lao, Mali, Moldavie, Sénégal, Togo) participeront à la 5ème édition de la formation internationale intensive "Construire ensemble l'avenir des sites patrimoniaux. Élaborer et mettre en œuvre une gestion durable" organisée ...
Wednesday, 17 June 2015
UNEP has published a Sourcebook of Opportunities for Enhancing Cooperation among the Biodiversity-related Conventions at National and Regional Levels, available for download at wcmc.io/Sourcebook.
The aim of the UNEP Sourcebook is to provide national focal points of the biodiversity-related conventions and other stakeholders with options to achieve enhanced implementation of the conventions ...
Monday, 15 June 2015
The World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the Call for Participants for the World Heritage Volunteers 2015 and #Unite4Heritage common action.
This common action aims to encourage young people from the Arab States[1] countries to take part in one of ten selected World Heritage Volunteers Action Camps 2015, at locations around the world.
The aim of this action is to respond to the ...
Friday, 12 June 2015
In the early hours of 12 June 2015, the Old City of Sana’a, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was hit by a bombing raid. Several houses and historic buildings were destroyed, causing human casualties. Among the buildings destroyed was the magnificent complex of traditional houses in the Al-Qasimi neighborhood, bordering an urban garden (Miqshama), near the Sailah water channel.
“I am profoundly ...
Thursday, 11 June 2015
The Second Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise in the Europe and North America region was launched at the 36th session of the World Heritage Committee (Saint Petersburg, 2012).
In Europe, 49 States Parties and 432 World Heritage properties (382 cultural, 41 natural, 9 mixed) participated in the Second Cycle of the Periodic Reporting Exercise (2012-2015). The exercise was coordinated by ...
Thursday, 11 June 2015
The World Heritage Centre is receiving correspondence from many NGOs and concerned citizens regarding a proposed high-rise project, and other matters, within the boundaries of the World Heritage property “Historic Centre of Vienna”.
The World Heritage Centre is aware of this situation and is following the issue closely with the State Party, as well as the Advisory Bodies to the World ...