News

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, the Island of Gorée (Senegal) bears exceptional testimony to one of the greatest tragedies in the history of human societies: the slave trade. Today, however, the site faces major conservation challenges. UNESCO is working with the Senegalese authorities to meet these challenges. The island of Gorée has been facing a worrying situation in recent ...

UNESCO has piloted an online training course on climate change adaptation and resilience in two natural World Heritage sites in Africa, with site managers from Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe / Zambia) and Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of Congo) joining. The outcome reveals the vulnerability of sites to climate change but offers options to reduce risks. Climate change ...

In 2018, the region of Gävleborg, Sweden, created the international World Heritage Residence Scholarship at the World Heritage site “Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland”. The 5th call for applications is now open until 15 February 2023.  One aim of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention is to create links between people and promote international cooperation. Peace is a central concept. This ...

In December 2022, young scientists from the French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (Institut polaire Paul-Émile Victor; IPEV) and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises; TAAF) participated in the UNESCO environmental DNA (eDNA) campaign on the Kerguelen Archipelago. This global campaign aims to improve knowledge and measure the effects of ...

After launching the Patrimonito Storyboard Competition this summer, the World Heritage Centre received over 700 submissions from young people featuring solutions to the impacts of climate change on World Heritage sites. Climate change is the defining issue of our time and amongst the greatest threats facing cultural and natural heritage today. Involving the youth is essential to finding ...

While countries start their last sprint for this decade’s UN biodiversity targets (COP15), UNESCO and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sign a new four-year (2022-2025) Programme Cooperation Agreement. Norway’s support of NOK 25 million to the World Heritage Fund makes a significant contribution to safeguarding of the unique biodiversity and rich cultural heritage of ...

On the Occasion of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), UNESCO has issued new guidance for the corporate sector to ensure that their operations do not put World Heritage at risk.  play_arrow “This guidance is based on over two decades of collaboration with the corporate sector. During this time, companies have really stepped up their support to UNESCO World Heritage sites ...

Artist Mikaela Steby Stenfalk won Gävleborg, Sweden's fourth World Heritage Scholarship and residence with her project "Dialogue between two interiors". Fifty-two applications from 20 countried were received. The World Heritage Scholarship is intended for professional cultural creators and people who work with, research or have another connection to World Heritage. The scholarship is linked ...

On 9 and 10 November 2022, local youth aged 6 to 12 years at Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves World Heritage site joined the UNESCO environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling campaign as part of a global effort to better understand how climate change is affecting marine biodiversity.Amidst sea turtle and dolphin sightings, local children collected water ...

Early morning of 6 December 2022, Costa Rican Park rangers & volunteers sailed out to Cocos Island National Park to filter environmental DNA (eDNA) from the water. The local sampling is part of the global eDNA expeditions initiative that UNESCO currently conducts across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change ...

On 29 November 2022, the Kingdom of Morocco, represented by H.E. Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, and Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, signed a framework agreement for the protection of African heritage, which will contribute to the implementation of activities for fostering cultural heritage safeguarding and capacity building, in the framework ...

In collaboration with UNESCO and supported by BMZ and GIZ, a ‘cash for work’ scheme has been launched by the Agency for Protected Areas in Georgia and the Development Fund of Protected Areas of Georgia (DFPA) in the Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands World Heritage property. 20 youth have been recruited as part of the project, and are receiving on the job training in visitor management and ...

After fifteen years of grassroots youth activities and international cooperation, and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Initiative meet the challenge of ‘The Next 50’ years to involve young people, communities and site managers in building together new, inclusive societies where World Heritage is a source of ...

From 21 to 26 September 2022, nearly 100 youth from local schools collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples across the Wadden Sea World Heritage area as part of a global UNESCO initiative to better understand how climate change is affecting marine biodiversity. Ocean species shed DNA into the water around them in the form of genetic material from waste, mucus or cells. Just one liter of ...

“The Global Research and Action Agenda on Culture, Heritage, and Climate Change: Scientific Outcome of the International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage, and Climate Change”, the result of collaboration between UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is now available online. This ...

In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, known as the 1972 Convention, the UNESCO Cluster Office in San José collaborated with the National Museum of Costa Rica in the framework of a World Heritage Festival, which took place on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November at the headquarters ...

The Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting started in Europe and North America with a two-day online event (20-21 October) that brought together the national focal points for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention in the region. In this year of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention that UNESCO has chosen to celebrate under the theme ‘World Heritage as a source of ...

UNESCO World Heritage sites demonstrate the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage and are important resources for traditional knowledge and practices and lead the way for heritage-based solutions and strategies. UNESCO is at the forefront of collecting data and evidence concerning climate change's impact on culture. Through the World Heritage Canopy platform, heritage-based solutions ...

This expert mission is part of the collaboration offered by the Director-General of UNESCO during her official visit to the World Heritage site "Historic District of the Port City of Valparaíso", which took place in May 2022. The objective is to provide the Chilean Government and the Municipal Corporation for the Administration of the World Heritage Site with technical advice to help guide ...

New UNESCO data highlight the accelerated melting of glaciers in World Heritage sites, with glaciers in a third of sites set to disappear by 2050. But it is still possible to save the other two thirds, if the rise in global temperatures does not exceed 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period. This will be a major challenge for COP27. play_arrow play_arrow Watch 50 UNESCO World ...