News

From 2020 through 2022, UNESCO Jakarta carried out a project “Towards a sustainable future for the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra UNESCO World Heritage site: integrating management and reviewing boundaries for the long-term protection of the Outstanding Universal Value,” funded by the UNESCO/Netherlands Funds-in-Trust, in close coordination with the Directorate General of Natural ...

13 May 2023 – World Migratory Bird Day highlights the importance of water for migratory birds and calls for more action to protect water resources and aquatic ecosystems. UNESCO World Heritage sites are crucial safe havens for all 12 migratory bird species that are celebrated today. Water is fundamental to life on our planet. Many migratory birds rely on aquatic ecosystems during their life ...

From June until November 2022, Member States were invited to report on the implementation of the 2011 Recommendation at the national and urban levels. Progress in the Member States’ implementation of the 2011 Recommendation since the Second Consultation in 2019 is evident and encouraging, with reports received from 69 Member States reported with 62 national reports and 125 local reports out ...

From 3 to 6 May 2023, 11 students aged 10 to 14 from the Banc d'Arguin National Park UNESCO World Heritage site participated in UNESCO's Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling campaign, as part of a global effort to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. Eleven young people from the 4 schools in the park’s coastal villages of Mamghar, R'Gueiba, Teichott and Iwik ...

Message from Ms Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of African World Heritage Day Each year, on 5 May, UNESCO and its partners come together to celebrate African heritage. The richness and diversity of this heritage are embodied in natural sites of breathtaking beauty, which are often home to a unique biodiversity, such as the Ivindo National Park in Gabon, listed as ...

On Tuesday 2 May, the Director of UNESCO World Heritage, Lazare Eloundou Assomo, accompanied by the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, Anne Lemaistre, visited the Convent of Santa Clara, the first women’s convent in Havana (founded in 1644), part of the World Heritage property “Old Havana and its Fortification System,” inscribed on the ...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 3-12 September 2023Looking Ahead: The Next 50 Years of Protecting Natural and Cultural Heritage As an integral part of the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, and in the framework of the UNESCO World Heritage Education Programme, the Ministry of Culture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the National Committee for Education, Culture and ...

In May 2023, Traditional Owners collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage site (Australia), as part of the global eDNA expeditions UNESCO is currently piloting across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. Water samples were collected from 5 locations across Ningaloo Coast World Heritage ...

The 5th edition of the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum (WHSMF23) will be organised in conjunction with the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, with the theme selected for the Forum “Managing World Heritage for the Next 50 Years.” It is hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the National Committee and the Heritage Commission ...

Call for nominations are open. Deadline for submission: extended until 31 May 2023. The Prize rewards outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world’s cultural landscapes. The Prize was established in 1995 by Greece and named after the actress and activist Melina Mercouri, a strong advocate of integrated heritage conservation and former Minister of Culture of Greece. The ...

Today, Belize’s Ministry of Blue Economy and Civil Aviation launched the Strategy for Reef Resilience in Belize, paving the way for concerted action across government, businesses and civil society to help safeguard the future of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System from the impacts of climate change. The strategy was released alongside initial seed funding to ...

Bridges: UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe's biannual newsletter, issue 2 July - December 2022 is now available online. The issue illustrates World Heritage-related activity in the region. You can access and download the newsletter through the UNESCO Digital Library below:Bridges: UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, issue 2, July - December 2022 - ...

High school children from rural villages travelled to iSimangaliso Wetland Park to sample South Africa’s unique World Heritage-listed marine area as part of the global eDNA expeditions UNESCO is currently piloting across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. In the early morning of 19 April 2023, children from three high ...

Blog post by Director of World Heritage at UNESCO - Lazare Eloundou AssomoIs there a place you have never been, but always felt a special connection to? From Peru’s Machu Picchu to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, these wonders of the world are as diverse as they come. But they have one thing in common – they are part of ...

The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative, one of UNESCO’s flagship activities that involves young people in the active preservation of our World Heritage is celebrating the International Day of Monuments and Sites by kick-starting its 2023 Campaign with 3 projects in Madagascar, India and China, respectively. Young international and national volunteers will trek along the Khangchendzonga ...

Scientists and rangers from the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP) undertook an expedition to the Archipiélago de Revillagigedo World Heritage site in Mexico to collect marine baseline information, including environmental DNA (eDNA) samples as part of the eDNA sampling campaigns currently piloted by UNESCO across 25 marine World Heritage sites. From 16 to 26 April 2023, ...

From 2020 through 2022, Colombia has undertaken a project aimed at developing a dossier in view of a future nomination of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Tayrona National Park for the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1979. It is the world’s highest coastal mountain formation with two peaks at 5,775 metres above sea level ...

Young Philippine volunteers journeyed overnight to Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park to take eDNA samples at the remote World Heritage site, located in the centre of the Sulu Sea. The sampling was part of the global eDNA expeditions initiative that UNESCO currently coordinates across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. On 13 ...

On 14 January 2023, the Forum on the 50th Anniversary of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was held in Beijing in a hybrid format. Under the theme of "World Heritage for the Next 50 Years", the Forum was co-hosted by the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the ...

Students from villages near the Dungonab Bay and Mukkawar Island Marine National Park sampled Sudan’s unique World Heritage listed marine area as part of the global eDNA expeditions UNESCO is currently piloting across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the effects of climate change. On 9 and 10 April 2023, 8 students from primary and secondary schools ...