News

The call for applications for the 3rd edition of the Master programme on "World Heritage at Work", offered by the University of Turin, the Polytechnic of Turin and the International Training Centre of ILO, in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, is now open. The programme is intended for professionals involved in the management of a World Heritage ...

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today expressed her relief at the news that the reconstruction of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi (Uganda) is feasible, following its near-destruction by fire on 16 March. "I am glad to report that an expert mission confirms the feasibility of this unique World Heritage site's reconstruction. UNESCO will do everything in its power to help the ...

Francesco Bandarin (Italy), Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre since 2000, was appointed today UNESCO’s new Assistant Director-General for Culture. As a specialist in architecture and urban planning, Mr Bandarin previously worked in both public and private institutions in the fields of built heritage, cultural heritage conservation, environmental heritage and cultural events, as well ...

The Rapid Response Facility (RRF) has awarded Belizean conservation group Wildtracks with a grant to assess proposed dredging and mangrove clearance within Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, affecting what may be the only breeding location for the critically endangered smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) in Belize. Corozal Bay and the adjacent Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, which forms part ...

On 12 April 2010, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and the Governor of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, Amália García Medina, signed the Agreement establishing, in Zacatecas, the Regional World Heritage Institute as a category 2 institute under the auspices of UNESCO. The Regional Institute of Zacatecas, which will be located in the ‘Casa del Conquistador’, the ...

With the objective of addressing issues related to the preservation of Bolivian World Heritage properties, the Head of the Latin America and Caribbean Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Ms Nuria Sanz, met with the new Minister of Culture, Ms Zulma Yugar, during her recent visit to the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. The property of Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the ...

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, today expressed her sorrow over the tragic fire that ravaged the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, a World Heritage site in Uganda, and the deaths of two people in protests that followed the blaze. She made an appeal for calm and said UNESCO stands ready to help Ugandan authorities to assess damages and plan remedial action at this major religious ...

After last year's groundbreaking Tides of Time campaign, Jaeger-LeCoultre's second online auction on March 18, 2010 will benefit the preservation work of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This year, the Manufacture is offering an iconic and unique timepiece: one of two vintage 1958 Geophysic Chronometers tested by professional climber Stephane Schaffter and his team during their ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre expresses its condolences for the victims of the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Chile on 27 February. While providing humanitarian relief remains the absolute priority for the Chilean Government, recent information has been received on the state of certain heritage sites: Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso and Sewell Mining ...

The latest version of the World Heritage map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and National Geographic Maps with support from the United Nations Foundation, can now be ordered for a modest fee from the World Heritage Centre website. All proceeds from sales of the maps will go toward the preservation and promotion of World Heritage sites. The map is an extremely valuable learning ...

During the evening of 25 February 2010, in Timbuktu (Mali), a stampede occurred amidst a crowd gathered outside Djingareyber Mosque. Among the crowd were local citizens and other pilgrims who had assembled there to pray on the occasion of the Mawlid festival, celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. This stampede caused 22 deaths and at least 45 persons were ...

At a year-end strategy discussion, Shell, Earthwatch and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre evaluated the results of the first year of work under their five-year programme of collaboration to enhance the business skills of managers of World Heritage sites.  During the first year, nine World Heritage site managers from three sites in South East Asia had received training in ...

Following the collapse of a minaret in the World Heritage city of Meknes, Director-General Irina Bokova expressed profound sympathy Sunday and said UNESCO's expertise was available to the Moroccan authorities in their restoration efforts. "I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life of people who had gathered to worship at the mosque. I extend to the families of the victims my ...

World Heritage Papers Series No. 26: Cultural Landscapes, A Handbook for Conservation and Management may be downloaded from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre website. Cultural landscapes are those where human interaction with natural systems has, over a long period, formed a distinctive landscape. These interactions, in the case of World Heritage cultural landscapes, are of outstanding ...

In response to the recent impacts of torrential rains at the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, a technical visit of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre was carried out by Nuria Sanz, Chief of the Latin America and the Caribbean Unit, from 6-10 February in Lima, Peru. World Heritage Centre staff met with Ministers of Environment and Tourism, Directors of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INC) ...

Two official signatures took place recently at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France to establish new Category 2 Centres dedicated to World Heritage preservation. The African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), to be established respectively in South Africa and Bahrain and operated under the auspices of UNESCO, are both dedicated to reinforcing ...

[in French only] novembre 2009 - janvier 2010 Actualités sur l'avancement des projets CFU : * Atelier Fleuves et patrimoines. Paris, Senat français, 2 novembre 2009. * Réunion d'experts « Pastoralisme méditerranéen : patrimoine culturel et paysager & développement durable ». Tirana, Albanie, 12 au 14 novembre ...

On 18 January 2010 a meeting took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France between the Secretariats of the Convention on the Protection of the Alps and the World Heritage Convention. The 'Alpine Convention' was signed by the 8 Alpine countries on 7th November 1991, recognizing the Alps as a unique, common area which needs a common development and ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Secretariat to the World Heritage Convention, wishes to extend its best wishes to the Secretariat for the Ramsar Convention(Convention on Wetlands of International Importance) on World Wetlands Day, celebrating the 39th anniversary of its adoption. Like the World Heritage Convention, the Ramsar Convention is a site-based intergovernmental treaty which ...

The latest World Heritage site to benefit from the Rapid Response Facility (RRF) is the Belize Barrier Reef System (BBRS).  Recognized in large part for its extensive coral reef and mangrove ecosystems, this property is particularly vulnerable to siltation of the clear tropical waters on which it depends.  The RRF was approached by the Ya'axché Conservation Trust (YCT), reporting that ...