News

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, and the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Ina Marčiulionytė, today welcomed the decision by Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, to change the course of an oil pipeline being built across Siberia to eliminate potential risk to the World Heritage site of Lake Baikal. "I wish to congratulate President Putin for ...

The proceedings of the International Donors' Conference "Promoting and Preserving Congolese Heritage: Linking Biological and Cultural Diversity", held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France from 13-17 September 2004, are now available as World Heritage Paper Series N° 17. The publication has been made possible thanks to the financial support of the Japanese Government. The ...

On 30 November 2005, the Government of Swaziland officially deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, its instrument of ratification, becoming the 181st State Party to adopt the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.The World Heritage Convention entered into force for this State Party on 28 February 2006.

The selection panel for the 2010 European Capital of Culture have recommended that the German town Essen and the Hungarian city of Pécs should share this title together with a third one, Turkey's Istanbul.Asked to explain the purpose and added value of the concept of European Capital of Culture in general, Sir Jeremy Isaacs explained that the role of the European capital of culture is ...

Since January 2006, the Malian authorities have been developing a management and conservation plan for Timbuktu, a World Heritage site since 1988. In March 2006, a management committee made up of the imams of the three mosques, representatives of all local areas, tour guides, and municipal and administrative authorities was officially created by municipal decree. The development of a ...

The World Heritage Centre highlights the importance of World Heritage sites for mirgratory birds on the occasion of the first World Migratory Bird Day launched by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and other partner organizations. UNESCO has a Memorandum of Understanding with CMS, and the World Heritage Centre is also working with CMS in the framework of the coordination of ...

Representatives from 15 States Parties of the Caribbean region participated in a regional training workshop on marine World Heritage held in Soufriere, St Lucia, in the vicinity of the Pitons Management Area World Heritage site from 27 February to 3 March. The purpose of the workshop was to raise awareness on nominating marine areas from the Caribbean as World Heritage and to provide the ...

Following the January 2006 meeting on the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) Programme of Work on Protected Areas (PoWPA), six of the largest nature conservation NGOs and other partners have produced a joint statement charting how they are best positioned to support the implementation of the PoWPA in World Heritage sites. The statement includes a list of indicative activities that ...