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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Monitoring World Heritage site closures Introduction to the global map on the closure of World Heritage sites due to Covid-19 and analysis. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have taken measures to restrict movements of people and access to certain areas. This includes the closure of natural and cultural World Heritage sites in the 167 countries they are located in. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Nominations are now open. Deadline for submission: 30 April 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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...