News

It's easier than ever to participate in the preservation of World Heritage sites by making an online donation on the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website. With a few clicks you can make a donation in any amount and 100% of it will be used to help protect the most spectacular sites in the world. To make a ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre sends its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ruzna Amli, a young Tanzanian woman from Songo Mnara, who had worked with the UNESCO restoration project of the Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara Ruins, a World Heritage Site in Tanzania. The young mother of three died of the consequences of a tragic accident during the restoration works. We deeply ...

Living Landscapes and Cultural Landmarks: World Heritage Sites in the Philippines by Augusto F. Villalon, Photographs by Neal M. Oshima, Publisher: ArtPostAsia Pte. Ltd, Manila, the PhilippinesThis attractive book is the first publication to present all five World Heritage properties located in the Philippines in a single volume. Widely acknowledged by the international scientific community ...

A mission of experts led by UNESCO has rallied the support of the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) and of local communities in the preservation of the endangered mountain gorillas of Virunga National Park.The mission, comprising experts from UNESCO and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and ...

Gabon celebrated the inscription of its Lopé-Okanda site on UNESCO's World Heritage List over the weekend of 11-12 August 2007. Spanning four provinces, Lopé-Okanda is Gabon's first World Heritage site and also the first mixed site in the Central African sub-region. The inscription highlights international recognition of the country's outstanding natural and cultural ...

UNESCO's World Heritage Centre extends its deepest sympathies to those who have been affected by the powerful August 15 earthquake in Peru, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and left some 500 people dead and over a thousand victims. Peru has 10 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, including the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, the Historic Centre of Lima, and the Chan ...

Heritage advocates often reproach journalists for not being sufficiently interested in their field and for being only able to speak about it in a sensational or superficial way. Journalists for their part, highlight the constraints of editorial offices or express a certain mistrust towards institutions and heritage stakeholders. The international workshop which was held at Laval University, ...

Two new episodes, the fourth and fifth in the series Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures ,are now available. 4th: Ethiopia (Lalibela) Watch English/French/Spanish Russian/Arabic/Chinese Download FLV format English/French/Spanish Russian/Arabic/Chinese 5th: Russian Federation (Novgorod) Watch English/French/Spanish ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is relieved that the wildfires around the city of Dubrovnik (Croatia) are now under control and would like to pay tribute to the firefighters who fought the blaze. Reports from Dubrovnik indicate that the Old City, designated a World Heritage site in 1979 and then extended in 1994, was untouched by the fire.   The situation was particularly dangerous during ...

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, is concerned over attacks perpetrated against the mountain gorillas of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and has called on the national authorities to adopt urgent measures to brings the killings to an end.Declared a threatened species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the mountain gorilla is one of ...

The winners of the most recent Patrimonito Storyboard Competition have been announced. The winning storyboard will be developed into the next episode of Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures, a cartoon series for young people on World Heritage preservation. 6th: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda (The Virunga Mountains) Watch English/French/Spanish ...

The death toll continues to rise in Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo), where three females and one male silverback gorilla were shot and killed in the southern sector of the Park during the night of 22 July.The females, Safari, Neeza and Mburanumwe and the male Rugendo belonged to a group that was regularly visited by tourists. The death of these gorillas is not only ...

In order to avoid any damaging confusion, UNESCO wishes to reaffirm that there is no link whatsoever between UNESCO's World Heritage programme, which aims to protect world heritage, and the current campaign concerning "The New 7 Wonders of the World". This campaign was launched in 2000 as a private initiative by Bernard Weber, the idea being to encourage citizens around the ...

[in French only] Actualités sur l'avancement des projets : Fleuve Niger et patrimoine : projet europeen Formation internationale à la gestion des sites patrimoniaux Vienne, Autriche, Réunion points focaux « rapport périodique » ouest européens : 2 - 4 mai 2007Saint-Louis du senegal : reportage photographique et suivi du projet Riga, Lettonie : missions en avril et juin 2007FOCUS : Actions ...

Christchurch, New Zealand, 29 June - The World Heritage Committee inscribed 22 new sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List during its ongoing session in Christchurch. The new inscriptions include 16 cultural, five natural and one mixed, cultural and natural property. In a decision unprecedented in the history of UNESCO's Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and ...

The World Heritage Committee today finalized this year's additions to UNESCO's World Heritage List with the inscription of three new sites: Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius (Serbia), Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape (Azerbaijan), and Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico.The Late Roman fortified palace compound and ...

Christchurch, New Zealand - The World Heritage Committee has approved Poland's request to change the name of Auschwitz on UNESCO's World Heritage List. After international consultations, the property, listed as "Auschwitz Concentration Camp" in 1979, is to have the title of "Auschwitz Birkenau" and the subtitle of "German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)." In its ...

Christchurch, New Zealand, 28 June - The World Heritage Committee on Thursday took the unprecedented decision of removing a site from UNESCO's World Heritage List. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary (Oman), home to the rare antelope, today became the first site to be deleted since UNESCO's 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage entered into ...

Christchurch, New Zealand, 28 June - The World Heritage Committee on Thursday evening inscribed another five sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List: Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge of Višegrad (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Rideau Canal (Canada), Bordeaux, Port of the Moon (France), and the Old Town of Corfu (Greece), and Lavaux, vineyard terraces (Switzerland).The Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge of ...

The World Heritage Committee on Thursday afternoon inscribed four cultural sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List: Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape (Japan), Parthian Fortresses of Nisa (Turkmenistan), Sydney Opera House (Australia), and the Red Fort Complex (India). The Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, south-west of Honshu Island, is a cluster of mountains, rising to 600 metres ...