News

The World Heritage Centre has received numerous messages from citizens and NGOs expressing their concerns regarding the announcement by the United Kingdom’s government of the preferred route and tunnel, to widen the highway A303 between Amesbury and Berwick Down that runs across the World Heritage property “Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites”. The World Heritage Centre is fully ...

For decades, UNESCO has worked to protect cultural and natural treasures on land and sea by facilitating cooperation across borders. World Heritage is built on the premise that some places are so special that all of humankind should work together to protect them. This spirit of international cooperation has been evident among World Heritage marine sites in the Eastern Tropical Pacific for ...

From 16 to 18 August 2017, about 80 people met in Honiara, Solomon Islands, to discuss the future of the East Rennell World Heritage site. The Government, together with the customary owners, is currently striving toward the removal of the site from the List of World Heritage in Danger by 2021. This meeting was a first step to discuss the future work plan with heads of Ministries, local ...

Another earthquake struck the region of Oaxaca, Mexico on Saturday 23 September, further devastating a region where more than 400 people have been killed by two other powerful earthquakes this month. The Mexican authorities are carrying out coordinated actions at the federal, state and municipal levels and with the inhabitants of the affected regions to prepare a comprehensive and precise ...

On 21 September, UNESCO was informed by several sources that military action is intensifying within and around the Archaeological Site of Sabratha in Libya, inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1982. According to reports, military action is growing within and around the property. In view of this situation, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, calls on all parties to cease ...

On 27-29 September 2017, UNESCO will convene a three-day technical symposium in Tokyo, Japan, entitled “The Future of the Bamiyan Buddha Statues: Technical Considerations and Potential Effects on Authentic and Outstanding Universal Value”. This meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the potential reconstruction of the Buddha statues in the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan), which were ...

Since 1984, the European Heritage Days have provided an open access to cultural heritage, allowing anyone and everyone to get involved with the continent’s rich past - from chateaux to archives, 17,000 monuments and sites will open their doors, with 25,000 different events happening. The European Heritage Days are the most widely celebrated participatory cultural events shared by the citizens ...

The UNESCO Heritage division extends its condolences to the residents of the Caribbean islands struck by hurricane Irma between 5 and 11 September 2017, for the loss of human lives and the hardship resulting from the devastation. The first priority after such a disaster is always rescuing people and providing humanitarian aid. Following that, UNESCO is in close contact with local ...

About 60 participants from China, Nepal, ICOMOS and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre participated in a Workshop on the South Asian Silk Roads Serial Transnational World Heritage Nomination Process, Xi’an, China, 5-7 September 2017 organised by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) of China, Xi’an Municipal People’s Government and the ICOMOS ...

Following its ratification of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 2016, South Sudan is now preparing its Tentative List of World Heritage sites, which includes Boma National Park. The Netherlands Funds-in-Trust to UNESCO has granted USD 32,000 to the Republic of South Sudan to support the development and finalisation of a conservation and management plan for Boma National Park in view of ...

Following the fire that ravaged the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi World Heritage property in 2010, the site was added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger. The local community of the Buganda Kingdom have been working hand-in-hand with the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities with support from UNESCO to rebuild the Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga building, which houses the ...

In the framework of the 2nd phase of the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust project on “Support for Documentation Standards and Procedures of the Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination in Central Asia”, the World Heritage Centre and the UNESCO Office in Tashkent in cooperation with the Principal Department for the Preservation and Utilization of Cultural Objects of the ...

During the night of 28 to 29 August, a fire broke out in the crafts centre of the historical Museum of Abomey, located within the Royal Palaces of Abomey’s court, destroying numerous stands of craftsmen. The fire was caused by a short circuit around 1:30 am in the crafts centre of the historical Museum of Abomey. It destroyed thirteen of the twenty-eight stands intended for the exhibition ...

Within the framework of the project “Support to the reinforcement of the participative management structure of the Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System”, a workshop entitled “Heritage Impact Assessments International Workshop” took place in Santiago de Chile from 7 to 10 August 2017. This meeting organized by  the National Center of World Heritage Sites of the National Subdivision of Heritage ...

The 3rd Meeting of European World Heritage Associations will take place in the Hanseatic City of Lübeck from 5 to 6 October 2017. It is being organized by the German World Heritage Sites Association, the German Commission for UNESCO and Lübeck & Travemünde Marketing GmbH, and features as its theme “Sharing World Heritage”. Following the launch of the initiative in Strasbourg in 2015 and ...

The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing  of Wayne Lotter, courageous defender of natural heritage and wildlife, who was attacked by a gunman in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) on 16 August 2017.  The Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dr. Mechtild Rössler, presents her sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the renowned elephant ...

On 12 August 2017, a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission arrived on Wrangel Island (Russian Federation). Together with Herald Island and a vast ocean territory, Wrangel Island forms part of the World Heritage property “Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve”, which is the northernmost site inscribed on the World Heritage List. Francesco Bandarin, Assistant ...

Youth Building Peace The world has never been so young and it is getting younger every day. The development of any society depends on how well it nurtures its young women and men, how well they are supported. In 2015, there were 1.2 billion young people in the world, and more than 600 million lived in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. Young people carry the heaviest burdens of ...

The Director of the World Heritage Centre expresses her deep condolences at the loss of lives and destructions caused by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on Tuesday 8 August. According to initial reports, the epicentre of the earthquake in southwestern Sichuan province was in the mountainous Jiuzhaigou County, which includes the Jiuzhaigou ...

This year, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the landmark UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. This is an opportunity to honour the rights of indigenous peoples and their unique contribution to achieving mutual understanding, peace and sustainable development. Indigenous peoples are custodians and practitioners of unique cultures and relationships with the natural ...