140 news
Year2021close
Friday, 17 December 2021
Suva, Fiji (19 November 2021) – UNESCO, in partnership with IUCN Oceania, recently completed a draft background report to inform the Pacific Regional World Heritage Action Plan 2021-2025.
The report is based on consultation at national and regional levels, and the findings present the dynamic heritage profile of the Pacific region, including challenges, strengths and opportunities, and ...
4 min read
Thursday, 16 December 2021
On 10 December 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the China-based environmental think-thank Greenovation:Hub (G:Hub) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China, organized an online workshop to promote the integration of the “No-Go commitment” for World Heritage into the environmental policies of Chinese banks and financial institutions.
The workshop was a follow-up ...
2 min read
Thursday, 16 December 2021
As part of an ongoing UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF) project for “Post-fire emergency assistance for the World Heritage property of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, Uganda,” an online peer exchange was organized on 15 December 2021 by the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa between the site management authorities of the Kasubi Tombs World Heritage site in Uganda and the ...
5 min read
Tuesday, 14 December 2021
As part of the project “Technical and financial assistance for the reconstruction of Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga, architectural masterpiece of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, Uganda, World Heritage property in Danger” funded by the Japan Funds in Trust to UNESCO, an Introduction Guide to the Preservation of Traditional Thatching of the Buganda Community of Uganda was produced to document and ...
3 min read
Friday, 10 December 2021
An online technical workshop was organized to strengthen capacities in the Arab States in applying Impact Assessments to both natural and cultural World Heritage properties, providing important tools to evaluate the risks and threats that new projects may pose to the Outstanding Universal Value of sites, and to elaborate mitigation measures.
The online workshop, which took place on 6 and 9 ...
1 min read
Friday, 10 December 2021
The theme of this year's International Mountain Day is sustainable mountain tourism.
Mountains form part of our common natural UNESCO World Heritage. While the World Heritage Convention protects these irreplaceable mountain areas, the COVID-19 pandemic badly affected the sector of tourism, which created a crisis of economic and livelihoods for mountain communities. The United Nations is ...
1 min read
Thursday, 9 December 2021
UNESCO is committed to strengthening the management of African World Heritage sites by building the capacity of African World Heritage site managers – as embodied by its newly-launched Flagship Programme on “Fostering Cultural Heritage and Capacity Development” in Africa.
In line with this Flagship Programme, the Interim Committee of the African Site Managers Network met in Abomey (Benin) ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
Gabon ratified the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in December 1986. To date, it has two properties inscribed on the World Heritage List, the Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape Lopé - Okanda and the Ivindo National Park, inscribed in 2021 at the 44th enlarged session of the World Heritage Committee (Fuzhou, China). The country's tentative list ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 8 December 2021
A “Sub‐regional Capacity Building workshop on Sustainable Tourism for the Caribbean” took place online on 23 and 30 November 2021, organized by The World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Office in Kingston and Havana in cooperation with the University of the West Indies and Barbados National Commission for UNESCO.
The main aim of the workshop was to strengthen the capacities of the World ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
Join us and contribute to a knowledge-building initiative connecting climate change to the diversity of human cultures and heritage.
To read the call, please go to the ICCROM website: bit.ly/3obL2JH
To access the web form click here
Proposal deadline: 22 December 2021
Climate.Culture.Peace aims to share and exchange knowledge, research, practices and capacities through a multi-day ...
1 min read
Monday, 6 December 2021
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has appointed Lazare Eloundou Assomo Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Originally from Cameroon, Mr Eloundou Assomo is a graduate in architecture (Grenoble School of Architecture, France) and in urban planning (DEA Grenoble 1). He began his career as an associate researcher at the Centre for Earthen Construction of the Grenoble School of ...
2 min read
Thursday, 2 December 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the UNESCO Field Offices in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), organised a regional online workshop on 2 December 2021, during which national Focal Points from the region participated to talk about the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting.
Around 50 participants from 33 countries of the LAC region were trained in the technical aspects ...
1 min read
Thursday, 2 December 2021
UNESCO has been informed of a press release issued by the Office of the President of Kiribati on 15 November last, concerning the Government of Kiribati’s decision to lift the closure of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area as a no-take zone and to introduce a Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) for the sustainable use of marine resources within the World Heritage property. A no-take zone is a marine ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 30 November 2021
Within the framework of the 23rd session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the 1972 Convention, the publication Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System: New steps towards its sustainable conservation will be launched at a special side-event which will take place on 25th November at 13h45 in Room II with the presence of the Director of the World Heritage Centre a.i. and the representatives ...
1 min read
Monday, 29 November 2021
On the 3rd and 4th of November, the Somali Academy of Science and Arts (SOMASA), in close collaboration with UNESCO, organised a two-day National Consultation workshop and awareness-raising event on the implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention in Mogadishu, Somalia, as part of the three-year project entitled” Supporting Capacity Building for Nomination projects and promotion of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 25 November 2021
The 23rd General Assembly of the States Parties to the World Heritage Convention is meeting from 24 to 26 November 2021 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, convening the 193 States Parties to the World Heritage Convention, under the chairmanship of H.E. Mr Tebogo Seokolo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Permanent Delegate of South Africa to UNESCO.
During the session, the General Assembly ...
1 min read
Thursday, 25 November 2021
On 22 November 2021, in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, and Lina Mendoni, Minister of Culture and Sports of the Hellenic Republic, awarded the UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes to Mojca Kunst, Director of the Kozjansko Park Public Institute, for the management of ...
2 min read
Monday, 22 November 2021
The Brazilian Cerrado is the largest savannah region in South America, and is home to the Cerrado Biosphere Reserve which encompasses the Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks World Heritage site. The Cerrado biome is also the most biodiverse savannah in the world, home to approximately 5% of the planet’s biodiversity.
The region supports many rare and ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
A new report, Ocean Science Roadmap for UNESCO Marine World Heritage, reveals that three quarters of marine World Heritage sites are unprepared for the impacts of climate change, because of a lack of scientific knowledge. The roadmap identifies critical science gaps that impede the sustainable protection of marine World Heritage sites in an uncertain future and calls for vastly increased ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 16 November 2021
The 16th of November marks the anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. The Convention has preserved UNESCO World Heritage, natural and cultural for 49 years.
This common heritage belonging to us all is the best of our world, and the best of who we are. However the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) made it clear that if we do not adequately protect World Heritage ...
4 min read
Friday, 12 November 2021
The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference has served as a venue to announce pivotal pledges that will support increased protection of natural World Heritage. Forests, coastal and marine ecosystems found in UNESCO natural World Heritage sites are some of the most biodiversity-rich habitats on Earth and play a crucial role in climate regulation by absorbing and storing carbon.
World ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 10 November 2021
10 November 2021 marks ten years of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape.
On 10 November 2011 UNESCO’s General Conference adopted the new Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape by acclamation, the first such instrument on the historic environment issued by UNESCO in 35 years.
The Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation), calls on ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Within the framework of International Assistance from the World Heritage Fund, UNESCO Office in Bangkok and the Heritage Department of Lao PDR are organizing from 10 to 12 November 2021, with the participation of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, an online workshop on ‘Impact Assessment for Sustainable Heritage Management’ for the Mekong cluster countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet ...
1 min read
Friday, 5 November 2021
From June to October 2021, over Gambian 300 secondary school students have attended at least one discovery and training session at one of the two Stone Circles of Senegambia World Heritage sites in the country (two more are located in Senegal). Wassu and Kerbatch sites have been visited under the guidance of trained tour guides and teachers as well as staff from the National Centre for Arts ...
3 min read
Friday, 5 November 2021
The World Heritage represents the most exceptional expressions of our humanity and treasures of our planet. Through the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, countries around the world vow to safeguard the places of outstanding universal value through local, national, regional and international actions.
In 2022, the World Heritage Convention ...
5 min read
Thursday, 4 November 2021
The course on “People-Centred Approaches to the Conservation of Nature and Culture” is a flagship capacity building activity of the World Heritage Leadership Programme
This course is dedicated to World Heritage site managers/coordinators and heritage practitioners working in the Latin America and Caribbean region. The course will be held online in February 2022 and will be delivered in ...
Tuesday, 2 November 2021
The World Heritage Centre wishes to pay tribute to Dr. Joseph Eboreime, a leading personality of world cultural heritage in Africa who passed away on Wednesday 27 October.
Dr. Joseph Eboreime was the pioneer Director of Monuments, Heritage and Sites of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) of Nigeria.
He was a respected heritage professional who garnered recognition both ...
1 min read
Friday, 29 October 2021
Funded by the Flanders-UNESCO Trustfund (FUT), UNESCO starts the development of an online geographic information system for World Heritage
Over a thousand properties are currently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, almost half of which are located in Europe and North America. To preserve the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of World Heritage sites, potential impacts need to be ...
1 min read
Thursday, 28 October 2021
World Heritage forests: Carbon sinks under pressure, a report by UNESCO, World Resources Institute (WRI) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released today, provides the first global scientific assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration by forests in UNESCO World Heritage sites.
It reveals that despite substantial carbon stored and absorbed by forests ...
6 min read
Wednesday, 27 October 2021
From September to October 2021, five sub-regional meetings were organized with African site managers from Eastern, Central, Southern, Western and Northern Africa to elect the members of the Interim Committee of the African Site Managers Network. 15 members were elected (3 members per sub-region) to work as the Interim Committee to ensure the official establishment of the African Site Managers ...
2 min read
Friday, 22 October 2021
On 15 October 2021, the UNESCO/China Youth Development Foundation Mercedes-Benz Star Fund “Conservation and Management of World Heritage Sites in China” meeting took place in Songtao Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, China. It reviewed the achievements of Phase III of the project and launched a new Phase IV.
Shahbaz Khan, Director of the UNESCO Office in Beijing, expressed his ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 19 October 2021
UNESCO is launching a call for UNESCO designated sites including Biosphere Reserves, UNESCO Global Geoparks and World Heritage sites, as well as elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to benefit from the capacity building support of the UNESCO Earth Network.
Earlier this month, a call for volunteer experts including young people was launched.
The programme aims at matching volunteer ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 19 October 2021
An ambitious project using cutting edge environmental DNA, known as eDNA, to understand the richness of biodiversity of UNESCO’s marine World Heritage sites launches today.
It will involve the collection by scientists and local residents of genetic material from waste, mucus or the cells of fish from across select marine World Heritage sites, with the aim of monitoring fish, including ...
2 min read
Friday, 15 October 2021
Part 1 of the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15) gathered countries to negotiate towards the adoption of a new and transformative global deal to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 (post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework) due in 2022. The hybrid meeting held from 11 to 15 October 2021 was hosted by China from the city of ...
2 min read
New edition of Asante Traditional Buildings publication aims to promote sustainable heritage tourism
Wednesday, 13 October 2021
As part of the Sankofa Project, sponsored by the French Embassy in Kumasi, Ghana - the revision and 2021 edition of Asante Traditional Buildings has been published.
The revised publication aims to regenerate interest in the traditional architecture found at the Asante Traditional Buildings (Ghana) UNESCO World Heritage site and motivate students and researchers towards sustainable ...
2 min read
Friday, 8 October 2021
UNESCO World Heritage Centre met on Wednesday 6 October 2021 with His Excellency Mr Carlos-Edmilson Marques Vieira, following his nomination in July 2021 as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Guinea-Bissau to France, UNESCO and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). This meeting provided an opportunity to update the Ambassador on current UNESCO’s initiatives ...
1 min read
Friday, 1 October 2021
The Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting (2018 – 2024), a global World Heritage conservation monitoring exercise carried out in six-year cycles, carries on this September with reporting in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
World Heritage site managers and national focal points of the 147 World Heritage properties (101 cultural, 38 natural and 8 mixed sites) in the Latin America and ...
2 min read
Thursday, 30 September 2021
UNESCO is launching launch a call to constitute a roster of volunteer experts, prioritizing local and regional experts in the field of biodiversity and land restoration, environmental management and environmental law, as well as knowledge holders.
Volunteer experts will provide technical advice, generate data, build partnerships and provide training so that local actors, particularly ...
Monday, 27 September 2021
According to World Heritage in the face of COVID-19 (2021), World Heritage sites experienced a 66% drop in visitation and a 52% decline in ticket sales in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. In collaboration with the Advisory Bodies to the 1972 World Heritage Committee in the framework of the UNESCO Task Force on Culture, Tourism and COVID-19, UNESCO is now working on gathering more in-depth data ...
1 min read
Thursday, 16 September 2021
The International Advisory Committee (IAC) on World Heritage Sites in Uzbekistan was officially opened in Khiva and online on 15 September 2021, within the framework of the International Cultural Forum “Central Asia at the Crossroads of World Civilizations”.
The initiative to establish this committee together with UNESCO was put forward by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan H.E. Mr. ...
3 min read
Thursday, 16 September 2021
In the framework of the international assistance "Establishment of the Tentative List of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea", the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with ICOMOS and IUCN, organized this Friday 10 September 2021 an online workshop for the elaboration of the Tentative List of Equatorial Guinea.
This first session brought together a national team of cultural and natural ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 14 September 2021
Recruitment of a Scientific Coordinator.
The increasing impact of disasters in Africa and their growing complexity is a great concern for both heritage professionals and decision makers. It is expected that in the next decade, climate change will lead to more frequent extreme weather events, reaching to broader areas.
Cultural heritage in all of its forms is also increasingly at risk due to ...
1 min read
Thursday, 9 September 2021
This year, July 8 marked not only the 13th anniversary of the inscription of France’s Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but also the Day of the Turtle in New Caledonia. In celebration, the local and traditional communities, government representatives, scientists and youth came together to agree on a sustainable path forward ...
2 min read
Thursday, 9 September 2021
Ms Darwina L Neal, left, with Dr Mechtild Rössler and others at Oakland Plantation during a US/ICOMOS symposium on landscapes held in Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA in March 2004 .© ICOMOS/IFLA Cultural Landscape Scientific Commiittee
Landscape architect and conservationist Ms Darwina L. Neal, one of North America’s most renowned experts in cultural landscape conservation, passed away on 4 ...
1 min read
Monday, 6 September 2021
The new commitment was announced by Eddie Rich, CEO of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) during a workshop on “No-Go in World Heritage and other protected areas: success stories in leveraging the private sector and remaining challenges” at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France.
The commitment stipulates that no new hydropower projects should be developed in ...
2 min read
Thursday, 2 September 2021
TheIUCN World Conservation Congress, taking place in Marseille, France and online from 3 to 11 September 2021, will drive action on nature-based recovery, climate change and biodiversity through events, exhibits and forums.
The IUCN World Conservation Congress comes just months before CBD will be adopting the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, setting the international biodiversity ...
3 min read
Thursday, 19 August 2021
The new guidelines published by UNESCO and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) put forward a standard methodology for evaluating the impact of protected areas on the local economy.
The guidelines aim to help national stakeholders, protected area managers and researchers count visitation and measure economic impacts consistently through a standardized approach. Developed ...
1 min read
Thursday, 19 August 2021
Amid the rapidly unfolding events, and twenty years after the deliberate destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, a World Heritage site, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay “calls for the preservation of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage in its diversity, in full respect of international law, and for taking all necessary precautions to spare and protect cultural heritage from damage and ...
1 min read
Thursday, 19 August 2021
The W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (WAP) is a transnational property (about 450 km border) shared by the Republic of Niger, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Benin in West Africa. The Niger part of the property was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996. It will be extended in 2017 to its Benin and Burkina Faso parts. The site is also a transboundary biosphere reserve. In addition to pressures ...
1 min read
Thursday, 19 August 2021
At its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), the World Heritage Committee highlighted that the List of World Heritage in Danger needed to be better understood and therefore decided that this issue be formally addressed in order to overcome the negative perception of this component of the Reactive Monitoring process (Decision 40 COM 7).
As presented to the World Heritage Committee at its ...
1 min read
Thursday, 12 August 2021
Today is International Youth Day, when we focus on the future guardinas of our irreplaceable UNESCO World Heritage.
If heritage is what we leave behind for future generations, we need to work with young people to protect it. This International Youth Day, we wish to highlight the Young Professionals Forum which took place during the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee.
In ...
3 min read
Monday, 9 August 2021
UNESCO and its World Heritage Centre have observed with concern the large number of fires that have struck Greece and other countries in Southern Europeand the Mediterranean in recent weeks.
According to information provided by experts and press reports, firefighters continue to battle major fires in Greece, including one that could impact the World Heritage site “Archaeological Site of ...
2 min read
Monday, 9 August 2021
In the Lakota language of North America, the word “Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ” means “all is related” or “all my relatives” – both human and non-human. In Hawaiian, the phrase “ike loa” means “to see much” and describes a philosophy of lifelong learning to better understand our relationship with the world. And in the nearly extinct Nǀuu language of South Africa, the word “lgqe” refers to the life-force ...
2 min read
Friday, 6 August 2021
UNESCO wishes to express its deep concern about the reports on the expansion of the conflict to the city of Lalibela (Ethiopia), which hosts the Rock-Hewn Churches.
UNESCO calls for the respect of all relevant obligations under international law in ensuring the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value and legacy of this precious site by refraining from any act that may expose it to ...
1 min read
Friday, 6 August 2021
UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre (WHC) and financial support from the People’s Republic of China, organized a Training workshop on “enhancing the implementation capacity of the 1972 World Heritage Convention ” which took place from 3 to 5 August 2021, in Adama Town, Ethiopia. The meeting brought together 43 participants from ministries and ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
In parallel to the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), in close collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), organised an online side event, “Looking into the future: Highlights of the Regional Action Plan for Africa (2021 – 2027)” on 30 July. The event reflected upon the objectives and challenges foreseen in the ...
2 min read
Friday, 30 July 2021
Last month, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (Belize) appointed its first Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) as part of the global Resilient Reefs Initiative that aims to empower local communities to adapt to a changing climate.
Following in the footsteps of the CROs at the Ningaloo Coast in Australia and the Lagoons of New Caledonia in France, Ms. Kalene Eck, the newly appointed CRO in ...
2 min read
Friday, 30 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed the transnational property of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Western Segment) on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Western Segment) features components in Austria, Germany, and SlovakiaIt covers almost 600km of the whole Roman Empire’s Danube frontier. The property formed part ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 28 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today added four sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List and one extension to an existing transnational natural site in Europe.
The new cultural sites are located in Italy, Slovenia, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The natural site inscribed today is Ivindo National Park in Gabon. The World Heritage Committee also approved an extension to the ...
6 min read
Tuesday, 27 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today added 13 cultural sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List and one extension to an existing cultural site in Mexico. Roșia Montană Mining Landscape (Romania), was simultaneously inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger pending the removal of threats to its integrity posed by possible extractive activities.
These additions were made during the ...
13 min read
Monday, 26 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today added seven sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Four of the sites have been inscribed for the natural attributed: Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (Japan), Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats (Republic of Korea), Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex (Thailand) and Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands (Georgia). ...
7 min read
Sunday, 25 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China (China), Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana (India), Trans-Iranian Railway (Iran), and Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences (Spain), on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 44th session held online and chaired from Fuzhou (China).
China, Quanzhou: ...
4 min read
Saturday, 24 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed five cultural sites, including one transnational property, in Saudi Arabia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 44th session held online and chaired from Fuzhou (China).
The following sites were inscribed today:
Saudi Arabia, Ḥimā ...
5 min read
Thursday, 22 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee, during its Extended 44th session, has officially taken note of the 10th Anniversary of the adoption of the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (2011 - 2021).
To mark this celebration, the World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce that a dedicated capacity building webpage has been made available to centralize all on-going and future capacity building ...
Wednesday, 21 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee, holding its 44th session in Fuzhou and online, decided to delete the property “Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City” (UK) from the World Heritage List, due to the irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property.
Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004 and on the List of World ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee, meeting online since 16th of July, today decided to remove Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) from the List of World Heritage in Danger due to improvements in its state of conservation.
The Committee welcomed the clarification provided by the national authorities that the oil concessions overlapping with the property are nul and void and ...
1 min read
Sunday, 18 July 2021
The master's programme in World Heritage Studies (WHS) at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany now opens its doors towards a full online study experience.
The World Heritage Studies programme began in 1999 and its graduates from more than two decades have established a strong alumni network of professionals in the World Heritage field. Starting from October 2021, the programme offers a new study ...
3 min read
Friday, 16 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee’s 44th session opened today in Fuzhou (China) at the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Center, and continues online until 31 July. During the session, the 21-member Committee will notably examine the state of conservation of 255 sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List, 53 of which also figure on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
In her opening ...
2 min read
Saturday, 10 July 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is receiving a high number of e-mails expressing great concern for the possible extinction, in the near future, of the vaquita, a critically endangered porpoise endemic to the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico).
Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2005, the property of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of ...
2 min read
Thursday, 8 July 2021
In the framework of the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, the Rwandan National Commission for UNESCO organized in Huyé from 9 to 11 June 2021, with the technical and financial support of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, a national technical consultation to raise awareness on the importance of this Convention and to elaborate a roadmap for the preparation of the nomination file ...
2 min read
Thursday, 8 July 2021
This year’s Forum is being held online with nearly 100 World Heritage Site Managers from around the world from 7 to 13 July, together with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Advisory Bodies (ICCROM, IUCN and ICOMOS), heritage experts and representatives of various Chinese heritage institutions.
H.E. Mr. Tian Xuejun, Chairperson of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 7 July 2021
A technical workshop was organized to strengthen capacities of stakeholders in identifying and evaluating the impact that new projects may pose on the Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage sites, in addition to the elaboration of the necessary mitigation measures.
The online workshop was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, and brought together ...
1 min read
Monday, 5 July 2021
Vaquita are one of the world’s most threatened mammals, with less than ten individuals thought to remain. These all exist in a small area of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California UNESCO World Heritage site in Mexico, where entanglement in illegal fishing nets threatens their survival. The site was for this reason inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2019. ...
1 min read
Thursday, 1 July 2021
The 10th Anniversary of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) took place online through a launch event for the UNESCO HUL Call for Action and a global conference on the application of the HUL Recommendation to World Heritage cities.
The online events, consisting of several meetings and workshops, took place between 16 and 24 June 2021, marking ...
2 min read
Monday, 28 June 2021
On 21 June 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the École du Patrimoine Africain (EPA) brought together Ambassadors, site managers, and African heritage experts for the online launching of the project for the Capacity-building in risk ...
2 min read
Friday, 25 June 2021
Following the first meeting held on 1 April 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre organized an online technical meeting on 11 June to support the process of drafting the Desired state of conservation for removal (DSCOR) of Leptis Magna from the List of World Heritage in Danger, and the needed corrective measures.
The online meeting brought together representatives of Libyan authorities, ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 23 June 2021
On 8 June 2021, UNESCO, the Ghana Museums and Monuments Boards (GMMB), and the Netherlands represented by the Dutch Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Ron Strikker, inaugurated the Ussher Fort Slave Museum and Documentary Centre in Accra, after two years of rehabilitation work.
Ussher Fort, formerly called Fort Crèvecœur, is one of 28 components of the serial World Heritage property Forts and Castles, ...
3 min read
Friday, 18 June 2021
The World Heritage Committee’s 44th session will be chaired from Fuzhou (China) and take place online from 16 to 31 July, combining current work and issues left outstanding since last year, when the annual meeting was postponed due to COVID-19. The extended session will be chaired by Tian Xuejun, China’s Vice Minister for Education and Director of China’s National Commission for ...
4 min read
Friday, 18 June 2021
COVID-19 has impacted all sectors and all regions, and the world’s over 1,000 UNESCO World Heritage properties are no exception.
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on World Heritage one year after the start of the pandemic, UNESCO launched a far-reaching survey of site managers and national authorities and have published the results in the report ‘World Heritage in the face of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Following the launch of the first regional competition for Eastern Africa entitled: “Mobilizing Youth Engagement in the Celebration of African World Heritage Day - 5th May 2021,” six (6) proposals from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda were selected as finalists and will receive 5000 USD grants to raise awareness and engagement of youth for the protection and promotion of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 16 June 2021
On 20 May 2021, invasive species experts and local management teams from the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites met online to share lessons learned in the prevention and eradication of invasive species.
According to the 2020 IUCN World Heritage Outlook, 75 percent of the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are threatened by invasive species. When species are introduced to marine ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Following the official launch of the project “ Supporting capacity-building of World Heritage sites in East Africa (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania)” supported by the Sultanate of Oman, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) organized the first consultation meetings with concerned national institutions and partners of the five beneficiary countries, from 27 ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 8 June 2021
World Oceans Day
How Marine World Heritage builds resilience for people and nature
Spread across 37 nations from the tropics to the poles, the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are among the ocean’s most productive waters. Their abundance of marine life is vital to sustain the livelihoods of indigenous communities, local businesses and artists alike.
This year’s United ...
2 min read
Friday, 4 June 2021
This year’s World Environment Day will launch and focus on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a global rallying cry to heal our planet.
Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet - and its people. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
The German Commission for UNESCO herewith invites UNESCO World Heritage sites and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Africa to submit proposals for projects that help them to overcome an existing impairment caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Up to 20,000 Euro financial support will be provided to selected projects.
By providing financial and technical support to UNESCO World Heritage sites and ...
7 min read
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released the first set of data for Indicator 11.4.1 related to culture for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda 2030. The results and analysis are available in a new report, Tracking Investment to Safeguard the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Indicator 11.4.1 is defined as “total per capita expenditure on the preservation, ...
3 min read
Monday, 31 May 2021
UNESCO is now compensating for all greenhouse gas emissions caused by in-house and outsourced printing services at Headquarters (HQ). To make our print publications ‘carbon neutral’, UNESCO has chosen to support the development of a small scale hydropower project near Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
While UNESCO is striving to reduce ...
3 min read
Friday, 21 May 2021
International Day for Biological Diversity 2021 is being celebrated under the slogan: "We're part of the solution #ForNature".
This theme was chosen to be a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the over-arching theme, “Our solutions are in nature”, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From ...
2 min read
Friday, 21 May 2021
This unique fund brings together public and private donors for a common goal: better protection of nature in order to safeguard some of the most important areas on earth, including natural World Heritage sites.
The Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) aims to address one of the main bottlenecks for the conservation of globally significant protected areas located in the developing world: the lack of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 12 May 2021
World Heritage Young Professionals Fora are among the flagship activities of the World Heritage Education Programme, serving as a platform for bringing young professionals and heritage experts together to foster intercultural learning and exchange, to debate about common concerns and to discover new roles for themselves in heritage conservation.
As an integral part of the extended 44th ...
1 min read
Saturday, 8 May 2021
The theme for this World Migratory Bird Day is Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a bird!
At the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, we support natural sites around the world in their conservation efforts, which in turn supports animals in maintaining their natural behaviors in healthy habitats.
Bird song is not only enjoyable to listen to, but scientists and site managers can use it to evaluate the health ...
2 min read
Thursday, 6 May 2021
To celebrate the sixth edition of African World Heritage Day, on the 5th of May, UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) hosted a webinar under the African Union's (AU) theme for 2021: "Arts, culture and heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want".
The Director of the WHC, Ms Mechtild Rössler, inaugurated the event with an ...
3 min read
Thursday, 6 May 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to congratulate one of this year's Frankfurt Conservation Award (Bruno H. Schubert Prize) winners, the highest endowed private environmental prize in Germany - Julia Miranda Londoño, WCPA Deputy Chair and former Director of the Colombian National Parks Authority.
All four winners of the Award have all contributed in their own way to keeping the ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
African World Heritage Day
May 5th 2021
“Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”.
Since the proclamation of African World Heritage Day in 2015 by the 38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, every 5 May, African cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage is celebrated across the globe, raising awareness of the benefits of its ...
4 min read
Thursday, 29 April 2021
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has condemned the armed attack on an anti-poaching patrol that claimed three civilian lives, including those of Spanish journalists Roberto Fraile and David Beriain, in the Arly National Park – a UNESCO biosphere reserve and World Heritage site – in the east of Burkina Faso on 27 April.
“I condemn the murders of Spanish journalists David Beriain and ...
1 min read
Friday, 23 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre expresses its heartfelt sympathy after the fire that, on the morning of 18 April 2021, broke out on the edge of Cape Floral Regional Protected Areas (South Africa), a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.
UNESCO is in contact with the relevant national authorities who will assess the damage and impact of the fires which gutted the Jagger ...
1 min read
Thursday, 22 April 2021
The future of the world's ecological and human systems is deeply interconnected. Protecting nature means protecting people. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted local conservation budgets and shifted priorities across many marine World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Marine Programme's 2020-2021 Annual Overview provides insights about the challenges and successes across the ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 21 April 2021
Earth Day is an annual event held on 22 April to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on 22 April 1970, the history of the Day traces back to UNESCO.
In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on 21 March 1970, the first day of spring in the northern ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Call for participants: do you work with heritage places?
ICCROM is seeking 20 participants to take part in an Asian regional course on Promoting People-Centred Approaches to Conservation of Nature and Culture. This online course is open to:
Heritage practitioners from the cultural and natural heritage sectors and other individuals working at a specific heritage place.
Individuals ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Prof Giorgio Croci, a structural engineer who made an indelible contribution to the support of several iconic World Heritage sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, the Colosseum in Rome and Ethiopia’s Axum Obelisk.
Dr Croci studied civil engineering at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, and became a full ...
2 min read
Friday, 16 April 2021
In 1982, UNESCO’s General Conference established 18 April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, in many countries also celebrated as World Heritage Day. The day is promoted by ICOMOS globally, and the theme for 2021 is “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”.
The history of a place can involve many points of view. The conservation of cultural heritage requires careful examination of the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on cities and communities has been immense and has deepened structural inequalities, highlighting delocalised and unsustainable production and consumption models, as pointed out by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Decalogue.
The Towards a Future Tourism Strategy: Economic Recovery Tool for a Sustainable World Beyond the Pandemic meeting aimed to ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
UNESCO welcomes young heritage professionals, students and heritage enthusiasts across Europe and beyond, to join the upcoming open Webinar on European Youth and Heritage being held on 23 April 2021 from 14:00 to 15:30 CET, and discover a thriving network of Cultural Heritage Messengers.
Webinar:European Youth And Heritage
23 April 2021, 14:00 to 15:30 CET
Online ...
1 min read
Friday, 9 April 2021
The Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre will be chairing one of the events of the G20 Culture Webinars “Addressing the climate crisis through culture”, session II on “Strategies and Actions for Increased resilience of Cultural Heritage” will take place on 12 April 2021, 13h20 to 14h25. The event will be accessible via livestream through the YouTube channel of the Italian Ministry of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Nominations are now open. Deadline for submission: 31 May 2021
The Prize rewards outstanding actions to safeguard and enhance the world’s outstanding cultural landscapes which contribute directly and significantly to the goals set out in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Prize winner, who may be an individual, an institution or a non-governmental organization, ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 6 April 2021
UNESCO welcomes the Italian government's decision to ban large cruise ships from the Venice Lagoon. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee urged Italy in 2014 to ban large ships and oil tankers from entering the Venice Lagoon. Sometimes weighing up to 40,000 tonnes, they undermine the Venice lagoon and its ecological balance. The decree-law announced by the Italian Government is a very positive ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
On 26 March 2021, the Ambassadors of the Sultanate of Oman, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, United Republic of Tanzania and representative from Somalia joined the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to launch the three-year project entitled: “Supporting capacity-building of World Heritage sites in East Africa” financed by the Sultanate of Oman.
In her welcoming remarks, Ms Mechtild Rössler, Director ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
In 2020 many natural World Heritage sites and other important sites faced serious challenges and emergencies such as threats related to COVID-19, poaching spikes, conflicts, and unprecedent climate-related disasters (e.g. cyclones, wildfires, …). Precious time is often lost in organizing an intervention, while during this time, the world's natural heritage can be irreparably damaged.
The ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 30 March 2021
Almost a decade after the destruction of the mausoleums at Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has awarded a symbolic one euro to the Government of Mali and UNESCO for the damage suffered by the Malian people and the international community as a whole as a result of the destruction of Timbuktu’s cultural property in 2012.
This gesture follows the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 25 March 2021
The World Heritage Cities Programme is calling for case studies of Innovative Actions implementing the approach of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) , integrating heritage conservation with sustainable urban development, in World Heritage cities. The selected case studies will be presented during the conference that will take place online ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
In the context of the 10th anniversary of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) and as part of the activities organised for the Metropolitan Plan for Prague, the City of Prague that includes the World Heritage property of the Historic Centre of Prague, hosted on March 24 the conference Integrating Urban Heritage in Urban Planning Processes, in ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
On 17 March 2021, the Director-General of UNESCO received, via the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, a letter from Mr KIM Hyun-mo, Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea, announcing the creation of a new Framework Agreement to support extra-budgetary projects related to World Heritage in the Asia and the Pacific region.
UNESCO ...
2 min read
Monday, 22 March 2021
We are pleased to present the visual identity of the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 Campaign.
The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative launched a Banner and T-Shirt design competition in 2020 for the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 campaign, with the aim to have a global shared identity for the campaign, while celebrating the creativity of the participating organizations that enable ...
2 min read
Friday, 19 March 2021
The call for applications for the 3rd Edition of the Mediterranean Climate Change Adaptation Awards is now open until 15 April 2021.
This call was launched by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean and UNEP MAP Plan Bleu, in the frame of the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement last 20th January. The award ceremony ...
Thursday, 11 March 2021
The tragic destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001, which was broadcast across the globe, led to a global recognition of the need to protect cultural heritage at risk.
The empty niches of the giant Buddhas in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan are a perpetual reminder of our duty to protect cultural heritage, and what future generations stand to lose if we do not. Today, these ...
5 min read
Tuesday, 9 March 2021
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has provided UNESCO with 2 million euros to address some of the immediate socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on tourism and heritage. The project aims to support UNESCO’s efforts to accelerate the recovery, to protect livelihoods and to transform the sectors to become more inclusive and sustainable.
Working in ...
1 min read
Monday, 8 March 2021
Each year, International Women's Day is the occasion to celebrate the role of women and encourage gender equality in everything that we do.
Women play a crucial role in managing World Heritage sites. To mention just a few, there are Tania Zaven, site manager of Byblos, Christina Sinclair, site manager of Edinburgh, and Beverly Wade, national focal point for the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 3 March 2021
Today is World Wildlife Day with the theme: "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet," as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forest and forest-adjacent areas. This aligns with ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 2 March 2021
New guidelines developed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in cooperation with UNESCO outline how tourism and culture stakeholders can work together to support the inclusive recovery of cultural tourism, as countries around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The publication, entitled UNWTO Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 2: Cultural Tourism, draws on the ...
1 min read
Monday, 1 March 2021
Last week, UNESCO released the first global scientific assessment of its World Heritage marine sites’ blue carbon ecosystems, highlighting the critical environmental value of these habitats. While these sites represent less than 1% of the world’s ocean, they host at least 21% of the world’s blue carbon ecosystem area, and 15% of the world’s blue carbon assets.
Over the last decade, ...
3 min read
Monday, 1 March 2021
The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention set forth the procedures for the protection and conservation of World Heritage properties, the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, the granting of International Assistance under the World Heritage Fund, and the mobilization of national and international ...
1 min read
Friday, 26 February 2021
Integrating World Heritage in the Curricula of Institutions of Higher Learning in Africa – UNESCO's World Heritage Centre (WHC) and Chair on African Heritage at the Great Zimbabwe University join forces to promote capacity building in Africa.
On 24 February 2021, the Africa Unit of the UNESCO WHC and the Great Zimbabwe University (GZU), held an online consultation meeting dedicated to ...
2 min read
Thursday, 25 February 2021
UNESCO expresses its sorrow and condolences at the death of Hugo Houben.
As an engineer of electronics and nuclear physics, Hugo Houben embarked on another path, more in line with his ethical commitments. At the age of 28, he responded to a request to participate in the construction of a popular village in Algeria. It was then that he discovered that earth can be a good construction material ...
2 min read
African National Focal Points for Periodic Reporting finalize Third Cycle Draft Regional Action Plan
Monday, 22 February 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the UNESCO Field Offices in Africa, organized an regional workshop from 17 to 19 February 2021, where National Focal Points from the Africa region participated online.
Following the submission of the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting questionnaires in July 2020 and several consultations ...
4 min read
Thursday, 18 February 2021
After closing the UN Decade on Biodiversity, countries are this year negotiating a new 10 year agenda to halt the accelerating loss of biodiversity. This new and overarching global biodiversity framework, dubbed the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, is to be adopted at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15), planned ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
UNESCO is closely following plans for a 75-hectare amusement park under discussion near the World Heritage site of Angkor in Cambodia.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has also received numerous appeals from third parties expressing their concern.
The plenary session of the International Coordinating Committee for Angkor (ICC), held virtually on 26 and 27 January, addressed this project ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 16 February 2021
After a closure of more than ten years, the Lopé National Park Ecomuseum reopened its doors on 5 February 2021 with an official ceremony attended by the Executive Secretary and staff of the National Parks Agency (ANPN), local authorities and the head of culture from the UNESCO office in Libreville.
This important building is of great pedagogical interest for learning about conservation ...
1 min read
Friday, 12 February 2021
Following the outbreak of avian influenza currently raging in Senegal and Mauritania, UNESCO organized on February 11, 2021, a virtual information and consultation meeting with the Senegalese and Mauritanian authorities in charge of the management of the Djoudj National Bird Park (PNOD), the Diawling National Park (PND) and the Banc d'Arguin National Park (PNBA) as well as representatives of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
The Programme on African Protected Areas & Conservation (IUCN-Papaco) offers a brand new series of online learning courses adapted to different profiles of professionals working in protected areas. Each course is built on 50 videos (from our MOOCs) followed by quizzes to enable protected area actors to develop the skills that are essential for their profession.
The RANGER Essential is ...
1 min read
Monday, 8 February 2021
UNESCO, in partnership with World Monuments Fund (WMF), sent a team of experts from the University of Cape Town led by Prof. Heinz Rüther to the Stone Town of Zanzibar World Heritage property from 28 January to 2 February 2021. They are undertaking 3D data collection at the historic House of Wonders building, which partially collapsed on 25 December 2020, as part of an in-depth survey and ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 2 February 2021
This year’s theme for World Wetlands Day ‘Wetlands and Water,’ highlights the importance of wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages action to restore them and stop their loss.
The UNESCO World Heritage Convention works continuously with other entities to protect the most important wetland systems in the world. Wetlands are currently protected under different designations, ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 27 January 2021
On 19 January 2021, UNESCO and the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) launched the development of the Conservation and Management Plan for the Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions of Ghana, during a hybrid (physical and online) four-day capacity-building workshop and marked a major step in the implementation of the International Assistance, under the ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
On 22 January 2021, the Sultanate of Oman signed an agreement with UNESCO in the amount of Euros 583,566 to provide support for capacity-building of nomination projects and promotion of World Heritage sites in five Eastern African countries: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia and United Republic of Tanzania. The three-year capacity-building programme will support the updating of the ...
2 min read
Friday, 22 January 2021
The World Heritage Listed Ningaloo Coast generates more than 1000 jobs for its local community and contributes over AU$100 million to the economy of Western Australia. The economic valuation is the first major milestone toward the design of a climate change adaptation strategy at World Heritage-Listed coral reefs as part of the global Resilient Reefs Initiative.
Ningaloo Coast – a striking ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
This year’s scholarship for the World Heritage site Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland is now open for applications until 18 February 2021.
The World Heritage site was inscribed in 2012 and consists of seven large timber farmhouses with richly decorated interior. They are part of a concentration of over a thousand surviving timber structures in the Hälsingland area of reflect a timber ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Following the destruction of protected area infrastructures caused by excessive rain and the resulting flooding that occurred in May 2020, UNESCO, through the Government of China Funds for Capacity Building and Cooperation for World Heritage in Africa, and in collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, supported the preparation of architectural designs for five bridges along Central ...
1 min read
UNESCO and Zanzibar to cooperate in rehabilitation of Stone Town of Zanzibar World Heritage property
Thursday, 14 January 2021
Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania, 13 January--During a meeting yesterday, Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar, and Tirso Dos Santos, Head of the UNESCO Office in Dar es Salaam and UNESCO Representative to the United Republic of Tanzania, reviewed emergency response measures following the collapse on 25 December 2020 of the Beit-al-Ajaib historic building, also known as the ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
From 24 November to 12 December 2020, the Pendjari national park and the W national park in Benin carried out the largest regional initiative for the installation of satellite collars on a total of 25 elephants and 14 antelopes in this large cross-border complex.
With a view to safeguarding the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, this initiative aimed to increase monitoring and ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Five youth-led projects bring together heritage and peacebuilding in the Arab States region
Following the success of the Arab World Heritage Young Professionals Forum, and continuing their sense of engagement and purpose beyond the participation in the Forum, five young professionals implemented follow-up projects in the region, making heritage accessible to all, and leveraging it as a ...
3 min read
Monday, 11 January 2021
UNESCO expresses its deep concern with regards to the new deadly attack carried out on the morning of Sunday 10 January 2021. Rangers of the Virunga National Park were ambushed near Kabuendo while patrolling inside the park.
This new attack recalls the terrible events of April 24, 2020, against civilians, and of July 28, 2020, against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
1 min read
