News

Midway through a discussion on risk analysis, someone jumps to their feet and shouts “ELEPHANTS!!” and within a matter of seconds the classroom is deserted. For the next few minutes, the participants in Earthwatch’s Business Skills for World Heritage programme can be found lined up along Mpala Research Centre’s electric fence watching the herd pass on the far side of the river. The ...

UNESCO and Italy have agreed to collaborate on the restoration of the Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata, inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1997. International attention turned to the World Heritage site in late 2010, when torrential rains led to the collapse of several vestiges including the Schola Armaturarum (Gladiators' House) and the equally ...

Leading lights in science, technology, conservation and heritage interpretation descended upon Edinburgh on 23 November 2011 for a unique conference on how new technology could help protect fragile landscapes while giving greater public access to them. ‘I Know Where I'm Going: Remote Access to World Heritage Sites from St Kilda to Uluru’ was held from 23 to 24 November, with a keynote speech ...

To launch the 40th anniversary celebrations of the World Heritage Convention, UNESCO offered the World Heritage iPhone/iPad application (app) free for one day. On Wednesday, 16 November the app was downloaded 13,343 times from the Apple iTunes store. It proved to be most popular in France, the United States and China. An update of the App, which now features the 25 new sites added to the ...

On 16 November 2011, Kishore Rao, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, presented a certificate to German Minister for Environment Norbert Röttgen and the State Ministers recognizing the inscription of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany on the World Heritage List. The ceremony was held in Berlin, Germany and included representatives ...

The World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the publication of the World Heritage Paper #30:  “Adapting to Change – The State of Conservation of World Heritage Forests in 2011” as a contribution to the 2011 United Nations International Year of Forests. There are 104 World Heritage sites that have been recognized at least in part for their forest values.   These range from the 20 hectare ...

In June 2011 UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and Turismo de Portugal, the Portuguese Tourism Authority, signed an agreement engaging in a cooperation project on capacity-building for tourism management in World Heritage sites of Portuguese origin. This project is an integral part of the continuous cooperation that is being carried out by the World Heritage Centre and Portugal, ...

A contribution of the G-77 & China in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, in collaboration with UNESCO, the photo exhibit "The G-77 & China at UNESCO celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention" was launched at UNESCO today as the first event marking the anniversary year. It will be on display from 7 to 10 November 2011 at UNESCO ...

The latest version of the World Heritage map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and National Geographic Maps with the generous support of Russian Federation, can now be ordered for a modest fee from the World Heritage Centre website. The featured image on the Map presents Saint Petersburg, where the next session of the World Heritage Committee will be held (June/July 2012). The ...

The Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova today launched the 40th anniversary celebrations for the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO's Member States on 16 November 1972. In her address, the Director-General called for a year of renewal for World Heritage. "Heritage stands at the crossroads of climate change, social ...

Nine new members were elected to the World Heritage Committee on the first day of the 18th General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, which started its meeting today at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. The new members of the Committee are Algeria, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, Malaysia, Qatar, Senegal and Serbia. Each country will serve a mandate of four ...

One of the largest restoration projects in the history of the United States is underway at Olympic National Park World Heritage site in Washington. Begun in September 2010, the removal of the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams on the Elwha River will result in salmon populations swelling from 3,000 to more than 300,000 as all five species of Pacific salmon return to more than 70 ...

UNESCO is monitoring with concern the situation in the Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island, World Heritage site where fires have been raging since 25 October. According to early reports from the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, at least 3,000 ha of the 100,000 ha property have been destroyed by the fires. Twenty-six endemic rare plant species are already known to have been ...

On 10 August 2011 the Japanese Government approved the programme proposal "Capacity Building to Support the Conservation of World Heritage Sites and Enhance Sustainable Development of Local Communities in Small island Developing States (SIDS)", with a total budget of USD 1 million. The overall objective of the project proposal is to develop regional capacity building programmes for Pacific ...