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The theme of the 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity is “Our Solutions are in Nature”. The year 2020 was defined as a 'biodiversity super year', but because of the Covid-19 pandemic, major events dedicated to Biodiversity protection have been postponed to a later date. The current pandemic has shaken the international biodiversity agenda but has also revealed our total ...

As nearly half of the global population went into lockdown in recent months, rare wildlife sightings emerged in the most unexpected places. CO2 emissions dropped by 8% since the start of the year, the largest decrease ever recorded.  Nature seemed to finally take a breath from the relentless human pressures that have been the primary reason for biodiversity reduction and habitat loss for at ...

Children's Artwork on World Heritage Sites Thank You Children's Artwork on World Heritage Sites The artwork displayed below was posted in response to a global call for the Little Artists Exhibition inviting children around the world to draw a UNESCO World Heritage site that matters to them. This could be a site in their community, a memory from a family vacation, or a place ...

UNESCO welcomes the decision taken by Mr. Abbas Mortada, Minister of Culture of Lebanon, to halt the construction project at the Archaeological Site of Nahr El-Kalb. Since 2019, the Archaeological Site of Nahr el-Kalb has been on Lebanon’s Tentative List for potential future World Heritage nomination, and since 2005 on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. It consists of several ...

On April 24, a tragic attack from armed militia groups caused the death of four civilians and thirteen staff members of the Virunga National Park, a natural World Heritage site in the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC). In order to ensure the continuity of conservation actions, the Rapid Response Facility (RRF), an emergency fund established by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Fauna ...

On 9 May 2020, people around the world will celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) – a global campaign dedicated to raising awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them.  This year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us must stay at home. But we can reach for our binoculars to celebrate the theme of World Migratory Bird Day “Birds Connect Our ...

The World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Dr. Guy Suzon Ramangason, former Director General of Madagascar National Parks, who passed away on 30th April 2020.  Guy Suzon made an important contribution to biodiversity conservation in Madagascar and beyond.  After an international career at IUCN and WWF, Guy Suzon took the reins of Madagascar National Parks, ...

On 6 May 2020, Dr Mechtild Rössler, Director of the World Heritage Centre, is launching the UNESCO publication Empowering Youth for Heritage. Dedicated to the World Heritage Volunteers Initiative (WHV), it kick-starts a series of Webinars to support and build the capacities of the WHV-implementing organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This publication provides a retrospective of the ...

African World Heritage Day May 5th 2020 Youth, Entrepreneurship and Heritage Sustainability in Africa Due to COVID-19, 90% of World Heritage sites around the globe are closed or partially closed, and many of them are in Africa. As African World Heritage sites cope with the current situation, they are also looking ahead to the post-Covid time and planning for the short and ...