2423 news
Friday, 21 May 2021
International Day for Biological Diversity 2021 is being celebrated under the slogan: "We're part of the solution #ForNature".
This theme was chosen to be a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the over-arching theme, “Our solutions are in nature”, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From ...
2 min read
Friday, 21 May 2021
This unique fund brings together public and private donors for a common goal: better protection of nature in order to safeguard some of the most important areas on earth, including natural World Heritage sites.
The Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) aims to address one of the main bottlenecks for the conservation of globally significant protected areas located in the developing world: the lack of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 12 May 2021
World Heritage Young Professionals Fora are among the flagship activities of the World Heritage Education Programme, serving as a platform for bringing young professionals and heritage experts together to foster intercultural learning and exchange, to debate about common concerns and to discover new roles for themselves in heritage conservation.
As an integral part of the extended 44th ...
1 min read
Saturday, 8 May 2021
The theme for this World Migratory Bird Day is Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a bird!
At the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, we support natural sites around the world in their conservation efforts, which in turn supports animals in maintaining their natural behaviors in healthy habitats.
Bird song is not only enjoyable to listen to, but scientists and site managers can use it to evaluate the health ...
2 min read
Thursday, 6 May 2021
To celebrate the sixth edition of African World Heritage Day, on the 5th of May, UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) hosted a webinar under the African Union's (AU) theme for 2021: "Arts, culture and heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want".
The Director of the WHC, Ms Mechtild Rössler, inaugurated the event with an ...
3 min read
Thursday, 6 May 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to congratulate one of this year's Frankfurt Conservation Award (Bruno H. Schubert Prize) winners, the highest endowed private environmental prize in Germany - Julia Miranda Londoño, WCPA Deputy Chair and former Director of the Colombian National Parks Authority.
All four winners of the Award have all contributed in their own way to keeping the ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
African World Heritage Day
May 5th 2021
“Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”.
Since the proclamation of African World Heritage Day in 2015 by the 38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, every 5 May, African cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage is celebrated across the globe, raising awareness of the benefits of its ...
4 min read
Thursday, 29 April 2021
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has condemned the armed attack on an anti-poaching patrol that claimed three civilian lives, including those of Spanish journalists Roberto Fraile and David Beriain, in the Arly National Park – a UNESCO biosphere reserve and World Heritage site – in the east of Burkina Faso on 27 April.
“I condemn the murders of Spanish journalists David Beriain and ...
1 min read
Friday, 23 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre expresses its heartfelt sympathy after the fire that, on the morning of 18 April 2021, broke out on the edge of Cape Floral Regional Protected Areas (South Africa), a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.
UNESCO is in contact with the relevant national authorities who will assess the damage and impact of the fires which gutted the Jagger ...
1 min read
Thursday, 22 April 2021
The future of the world's ecological and human systems is deeply interconnected. Protecting nature means protecting people. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted local conservation budgets and shifted priorities across many marine World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Marine Programme's 2020-2021 Annual Overview provides insights about the challenges and successes across the ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 21 April 2021
Earth Day is an annual event held on 22 April to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on 22 April 1970, the history of the Day traces back to UNESCO.
In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on 21 March 1970, the first day of spring in the northern ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Call for participants: do you work with heritage places?
ICCROM is seeking 20 participants to take part in an Asian regional course on Promoting People-Centred Approaches to Conservation of Nature and Culture. This online course is open to:
Heritage practitioners from the cultural and natural heritage sectors and other individuals working at a specific heritage place.
Individuals ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Prof Giorgio Croci, a structural engineer who made an indelible contribution to the support of several iconic World Heritage sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, the Colosseum in Rome and Ethiopia’s Axum Obelisk.
Dr Croci studied civil engineering at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, and became a full ...
2 min read
Friday, 16 April 2021
In 1982, UNESCO’s General Conference established 18 April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, in many countries also celebrated as World Heritage Day. The day is promoted by ICOMOS globally, and the theme for 2021 is “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”.
The history of a place can involve many points of view. The conservation of cultural heritage requires careful examination of the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on cities and communities has been immense and has deepened structural inequalities, highlighting delocalised and unsustainable production and consumption models, as pointed out by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Decalogue.
The Towards a Future Tourism Strategy: Economic Recovery Tool for a Sustainable World Beyond the Pandemic meeting aimed to ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
UNESCO welcomes young heritage professionals, students and heritage enthusiasts across Europe and beyond, to join the upcoming open Webinar on European Youth and Heritage being held on 23 April 2021 from 14:00 to 15:30 CET, and discover a thriving network of Cultural Heritage Messengers.
Webinar:European Youth And Heritage
23 April 2021, 14:00 to 15:30 CET
Online ...
1 min read
Friday, 9 April 2021
The Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre will be chairing one of the events of the G20 Culture Webinars “Addressing the climate crisis through culture”, session II on “Strategies and Actions for Increased resilience of Cultural Heritage” will take place on 12 April 2021, 13h20 to 14h25. The event will be accessible via livestream through the YouTube channel of the Italian Ministry of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Nominations are now open. Deadline for submission: 31 May 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 organization, ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 6 April 2021
UNESCO welcomes the Italian government's decision to ban large cruise ships from the Venice Lagoon. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee urged Italy in 2014 to ban large ships and oil tankers from entering the Venice Lagoon. Sometimes weighing up to 40,000 tonnes, they undermine the Venice lagoon and its ecological balance. The decree-law announced by the Italian Government is a very positive ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
On 26 March 2021, the Ambassadors of the Sultanate of Oman, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, United Republic of Tanzania and representative from Somalia joined the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to launch the three-year project entitled: “Supporting capacity-building of World Heritage sites in East Africa” financed by the Sultanate of Oman.
In her welcoming remarks, Ms Mechtild Rössler, Director ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
In 2020 many natural World Heritage sites and other important sites faced serious challenges and emergencies such as threats related to COVID-19, poaching spikes, conflicts, and unprecedent climate-related disasters (e.g. cyclones, wildfires, …). Precious time is often lost in organizing an intervention, while during this time, the world's natural heritage can be irreparably damaged.
The ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 30 March 2021
Almost a decade after the destruction of the mausoleums at Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has awarded a symbolic one euro to the Government of Mali and UNESCO for the damage suffered by the Malian people and the international community as a whole as a result of the destruction of Timbuktu’s cultural property in 2012.
This gesture follows the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 25 March 2021
The World Heritage Cities Programme is calling for case studies of Innovative Actions implementing the approach of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) , integrating heritage conservation with sustainable urban development, in World Heritage cities. The selected case studies will be presented during the conference that will take place online ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
In the context of the 10th anniversary of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) and as part of the activities organised for the Metropolitan Plan for Prague, the City of Prague that includes the World Heritage property of the Historic Centre of Prague, hosted on March 24 the conference Integrating Urban Heritage in Urban Planning Processes, in ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
On 17 March 2021, the Director-General of UNESCO received, via the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, a letter from Mr KIM Hyun-mo, Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea, announcing the creation of a new Framework Agreement to support extra-budgetary projects related to World Heritage in the Asia and the Pacific region.
UNESCO ...
2 min read
Monday, 22 March 2021
We are pleased to present the visual identity of the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 Campaign.
The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative launched a Banner and T-Shirt design competition in 2020 for the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 campaign, with the aim to have a global shared identity for the campaign, while celebrating the creativity of the participating organizations that enable ...
2 min read
Friday, 19 March 2021
The call for applications for the 3rd Edition of the Mediterranean Climate Change Adaptation Awards is now open until 15 April 2021.
This call was launched by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean and UNEP MAP Plan Bleu, in the frame of the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement last 20th January. The award ceremony ...
Thursday, 11 March 2021
The tragic destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001, which was broadcast across the globe, led to a global recognition of the need to protect cultural heritage at risk.
The empty niches of the giant Buddhas in the Bamiyan Valley of Afghanistan are a perpetual reminder of our duty to protect cultural heritage, and what future generations stand to lose if we do not. Today, these ...
5 min read
Tuesday, 9 March 2021
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has provided UNESCO with 2 million euros to address some of the immediate socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on tourism and heritage. The project aims to support UNESCO’s efforts to accelerate the recovery, to protect livelihoods and to transform the sectors to become more inclusive and sustainable.
Working in ...
1 min read
Monday, 8 March 2021
Each year, International Women's Day is the occasion to celebrate the role of women and encourage gender equality in everything that we do.
Women play a crucial role in managing World Heritage sites. To mention just a few, there are Tania Zaven, site manager of Byblos, Christina Sinclair, site manager of Edinburgh, and Beverly Wade, national focal point for the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 3 March 2021
Today is World Wildlife Day with the theme: "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet," as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forest and forest-adjacent areas. This aligns with ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 2 March 2021
New guidelines developed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in cooperation with UNESCO outline how tourism and culture stakeholders can work together to support the inclusive recovery of cultural tourism, as countries around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The publication, entitled UNWTO Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 2: Cultural Tourism, draws on the ...
1 min read
Monday, 1 March 2021
Last week, UNESCO released the first global scientific assessment of its World Heritage marine sites’ blue carbon ecosystems, highlighting the critical environmental value of these habitats. While these sites represent less than 1% of the world’s ocean, they host at least 21% of the world’s blue carbon ecosystem area, and 15% of the world’s blue carbon assets.
Over the last decade, ...
3 min read
Monday, 1 March 2021
The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention set forth the procedures for the protection and conservation of World Heritage properties, the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, the granting of International Assistance under the World Heritage Fund, and the mobilization of national and international ...
1 min read
Friday, 26 February 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Thursday, 25 February 2021
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 ...
2 min read
African National Focal Points for Periodic Reporting finalize Third Cycle Draft Regional Action Plan
Monday, 22 February 2021
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 ...
4 min read
Thursday, 18 February 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
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 ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 16 February 2021
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 ...
1 min read
Friday, 12 February 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 10 February 2021
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 ...
1 min read
Monday, 8 February 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 2 February 2021
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, ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 27 January 2021
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 ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 26 January 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Friday, 22 January 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
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 ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
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 ...
1 min read
UNESCO and Zanzibar to cooperate in rehabilitation of Stone Town of Zanzibar World Heritage property
Thursday, 14 January 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
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 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
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 it as a ...
3 min read
Monday, 11 January 2021
UNESCO expresses its deep concern with regards to the new deadly attack carried out on the morning of Sunday 10 January 2021. Rangers of the Virunga National Park were ambushed near Kabuendo while patrolling inside the park.
This new attack recalls the terrible events of April 24, 2020, against civilians, and of July 28, 2020, against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
1 min read
Friday, 25 December 2020
Following news of the collapse of a part of the House of Wonders (Beit-al-Ajaib) in Stone Town, Zanzibar on 25 December 2020, the Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Ms Mechtild Rössler joins the people of Zanzibar, and the United Republic of Tanzania in general to mourn this sudden and significant loss.
The House of Wonders is one of the outstanding monuments in the Stone Town of ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 23 December 2020
12 December, 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the inscription of “Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
To celebrate the occasion, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve, in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 22 December 2020
The World Heritage Centre expresses concerns over on-going bushfires at Fraser Island World Heritage area in Australia, the largest sand island in the world, and solidarity with the people affected by the blaze.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has been receiving expressions of concern over the possible impact of the bushfire on the World Heritage property “Fraser Island”. The property, ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 22 December 2020
UNESCO has assessed the measures taken by governments to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on culture professionals and on the sector as a whole, an impact which appears to be more severe than previously assumed, according to data collected by the Organization and contained in a new policy guide.
In the film industry, it is estimated that ten million jobs will be lost in 2020 (1), ...
3 min read
Monday, 21 December 2020
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre vigilant on potential impacts of oil and gas exploration in Namibia and Botswana on the Tsodila and Okavango Delta World Heritage properties.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre has been made aware of petitions by civil society groups received by the UNESCO office in Windhoek, Namibia. The Centre is following with attention and concern the oil and gas exploration ...
2 min read
Friday, 18 December 2020
Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the selected projects of the World Heritage Volunteers 2020 - 2021 Campaign.
Under the theme Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage, 55 action camp projects will be implemented from February to December 2021, at 55 World Heritage properties and sites on the Tentative Lists, ...
1 min read
Friday, 18 December 2020
12 December 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the inscription of the Historic Centre of San Gimignano on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
On this occasion, the City of San Gimignano organized a celebratory event, bringing together high-level representatives from the Italian government and UNESCO, as well as site managers, experts, artists, and representatives from the public sector and ...
1 min read
Friday, 18 December 2020
The year 2020 was intended to be a “biodiversity super year”. Many far-reaching decisions concerning the preservation of biodiversity were meant to be taken in 2020. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of international meetings could not take place and have been postponed.
Meanwhile, the pandemic is not an isolated phenomenon. Scientific evidence links the emergence of the COVID-19 ...
1 min read
Thursday, 17 December 2020
On 3 December 2020, climate experts and local management teams from the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites met online in an effort to accelerate replication of initial successes in assessing climate vulnerability.
The online meeting was the fourth edition in a new digital exchange platform that was launched by the World Heritage Centre in March 2020.During the meeting, experts from ...
1 min read
Thursday, 17 December 2020
The latest version of the World Heritage map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre can now be ordered from the World Heritage Centre website.
The featured image on the map presents the Fujian Tulou World Heritage property in China, country hosting the next extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee in June/July 2021.
This poster-sized wall map features all 1,121 World ...
1 min read
Monday, 14 December 2020
UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF) supported an on-site firefighting training on 7 December 2020 for local communities and site management at the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi World Heritage site in Uganda organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Department of Museums and Monuments.
The training is part of an ongoing HEF project for “Post-fire emergency ...
2 min read
Friday, 11 December 2020
Mountain biodiversity is the theme of this year’s International Mountain Day, a day to reflect on the importance of their rich biodiversity, as well as address the threats they face.
Mountains are home to 15% of the world´s population and host about half of the world's biodiversity hotspots. They provide freshwater for everyday life to half of humanity. Their conservation is a key factor for ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 9 December 2020
The Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre participates in the international scientific meeting on the “Heritage Impact Assessment: A Tool for the Protection and Safeguarding of World Heritage”
On 26 November 2020, the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat, in partnership with the Ministry Of Youth Culture And Sports and UNESCO, organised an international ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 9 December 2020
At dawn on Friday 04 December 2020, the Tapoa base at the entrance to the W natural park in Niger was the target of a deadly attack that claimed the lives of two park officials. UNESCO, through the World Heritage Centre, strongly condemns this attack, which comes in a global context already weakened by a health crisis due to COVID-19.
"This armed attack fills us with deep sadness and ...
1 min read
Monday, 7 December 2020
The Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary hosted from 17 to 24 November the training on the use of new technologies to improve the surveillance and ecological monitoring of this property inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Bird Sanctuary is inscribed since 1981 on the World Heritage List as a natural site, alongside the Niokolo Koba National Park in Senegal. It is the third largest ...
3 min read
Friday, 4 December 2020
On 25 November 2020, the World Heritage Centre held an 'Online technical meeting for Libyan properties on the List of the World Heritage in Danger' to support Libya in drafting the desired state of conservation and corrective measures for the eventual removal of Old Town of Ghadamès from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The online meeting brought together representatives of Libyan ...
1 min read
Friday, 4 December 2020
On 23 November 2020, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in cooperation with the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), organized an online meeting on “World Heritage in Danger in the Arab States Region, Processes and Actions”.
Focal points and site managers responsible for properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in the Arab States region, as well as ...
1 min read
Thursday, 3 December 2020
The World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the five field offices in the African region (Abuja, Dakar, Harare, Nairobi and Yaoundé) and the African World Heritage Fund has organised four online workshops, between 27 November and 3 December 2020, with site managers from each of the African sub-regions in order to share and discuss the preliminary outcomes of the Periodic Reporting ...
2 min read
Thursday, 3 December 2020
Resilient Reefs introduced its bold, inclusive approach to climate adaptation at the UNFCCC Ocean and Climate Change Dialogue in December 2020. The Resilient Reefs Initiative is a new approach to marine conservation being piloted across five UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites, and backed by a global private-public consortium.
The Dialogue, held by videoconference, brought together over 500 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 2 December 2020
Climate change is now the biggest threat to natural World Heritage, according to a report published today by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). A third (33%) of natural World Heritage sites are threatened by climate change, including the world’s largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef, assessed as having a “critical” outlook for the first time.
“Natural World Heritage ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 1 December 2020
As part of its new cooperation programme with UNESCO, the Government of Norway committed an additional amount of NOK 50 million over two years (equivalent to USD 5,64 million), to further strengthen efforts to improve the state of conservation of World Heritage sites in Africa, in particular natural World Heritage properties and those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Norway ...
1 min read
Saturday, 28 November 2020
IUCN Protected Areas and World Commission on Protected Areas are proud to announce the new International Ranger Awards, developed in collaboration with the International Ranger Federation, Global Wildlife Conservation, and Conservation Allies.
People need nature, wild places and green spaces, for our health and well-being, and for our water, air and food. Rangers are the people who care for ...
1 min read
Friday, 27 November 2020
UNESCO joined forces with the Somalia Academy of Science and Arts (SOMASA) in collaboration with the Somali National Commission for UNESCO and the Somali Permanent Delegation to UNESCO to organize a national consultation meeting on 23 and 24 November 2020 with national and international experts and other key stakeholders in the culture sector in Somalia to develop a National Strategic Plan ...
5 min read
Friday, 27 November 2020
Following the reopening of Somalia National Museum on 1 July 2020, UNESCO partnered with the Somali Academy of Science and Arts (SOMASA) in collaboration with the Somali National Commission for UNESCO and the Permanent Delegation of Somalia to UNESCO to organize a capacity building workshop on 25th November 2020 that aimed to strengthen the management and administration of the National ...
3 min read
Thursday, 26 November 2020
World Olive Tree Day was proclaimed at the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2019 and takes place on 26 November every year.
The olive tree, specifically the olive branch, holds an important place in the minds of men and women. Since ancient times, it has symbolized peace, wisdom and harmony and as such is important not just to the countries where these noble trees grow, but ...
4 min read
Tuesday, 24 November 2020
In 2000, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution officially designating 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
In doing so, the United Nations invited governments, international organizations as well as NGOs to join together and raise public awareness every year on that date. Twenty years on, the battle to prevent and ...
1 min read
Monday, 23 November 2020
On November 18 2020, colleagues from UNESCO’s Africa Unit of the World Heritage Centre (WHC), Field Offices in the Africa region, as well as from the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), met online for their periodic meeting concerning the progress of the implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention in Africa.
The discussion focused on UNESCO’s longstanding Priority Africa Initiative, ...
1 min read
Friday, 20 November 2020
On November 9 2020, the Africa Unit of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and ICCROM experts met online to develop a project that will contribute to capacity-building in disaster risk management and protection systems for World Heritage sites in Africa.
The project will be implemented in two phases: a series of online webinars, followed by a visit to an African World Heritage site. Lasting one ...
1 min read
Friday, 20 November 2020
Further to a large number of correspondence received related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, we would like to direct you towards the latest UNESCO ...
Thursday, 19 November 2020
On 4 November 2020, Domus organized the DomusForum 2020 “The future of cities”. The conference brought together high-profile experts, international organizations, business leaders, government officials and academics for a conversation on the challenges faced by cities, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference focused on a central question: "Will the concept of ...
1 min read
Saturday, 14 November 2020
In reaction to numerous inaccurate statements and errors circulating in the press about the situation of Hagia Sophia, UNESCO wishes to recall the following:
UNESCO reacted to the change of Hagia Sophia's status as early as July 2020 and expressed its concern in this regard. This position has remained constant since then.
UNESCO immediately initiated a review process and sent a mission ...
1 min read
Friday, 13 November 2020
The 16th of November marks the 48th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. This Convention protects the world’s most outstanding places, belonging to us all.
Where it all began
The idea of creating an international movement for protecting heritage emerged after World War I. The 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage developed from the ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 4 November 2020
On 28 October 2020, the World Heritage Centre (WHC), in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) started the Data Analysis and Report Synthesis Online Workshop in the framework of the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting in the Africa Region.
More than 35 participants from the AWHF, WHC, Advisory Bodies and international heritage experts met online for three days to discuss ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 4 November 2020
On 5 October 2020, the Urban Economy Forum (UEF) in collaboration with UN-Habitat organized the "Urban Economy Forum 2020". The event brought together ministers, mayors, representatives of UN agencies, and high-profile experts from the private and public sectors and academia for a conversation on sustainable urban development for achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
UNESCO ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 3 November 2020
On 29 October 2020, the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) secretariat presented the draft UfM Strategic Action Plan and its Housing Action Plan to the Euro-Mediterranean local and regional authorities, as well as associations active in the region, within the framework of the ongoing consultation process on the development of the Strategic Action Plan for sustainable urban development.
The ...
2 min read
Thursday, 29 October 2020
This World Cities Day is the seventh global celebration since the day was launched in 2014 in Shanghai, China. The 2020 World Cities Day themed ‘Valuing our communities and cities’ underlines the importance of the local communities who are at the heart of building sustainable cities.
By 2050, nearly 7 out of 10 people in the world will live in cities. Cities have become the point of ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 27 October 2020
The UIA (International Union of Architects) marked the World Architecture Day on Monday 5 October by holding a live webinar to discuss this year’s theme: “Toward a better urban future”.
Moderated by UIA President Thomas Vonier and UIA Secretary General Serban Tiganas, the webinar began with a virtual roundtable which included the UN Habitat Assistant Secretary General and Executive Director ...
1 min read
Monday, 26 October 2020
Site managers report on Covid-19
World Heritage sites are also affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the managers of World Heritage sites tell us how they are coping with the crisis.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to warmly thank the site managers and staff who made the effort to update us during this particularly difficult time.
Bwindi Impenetrable National ...
2 min read
Thursday, 22 October 2020
As part of the celebration of UN World Habitat Day, a high-level conference under the theme “Housing For All: A better Urban Future” was held online on 5 October 2020, at the initiative of the Ministry of National Territory Development, Urban Planning, Habitat and Urban Policy of Morocco. The event brought together several ministers and senior officials in charge of Housing, as well as ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 21 October 2020
From 7 to 30 October 2020, the photo exhibition “Protecting UNESCO Marine World Heritage through scientific research" features 21 photographs at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, as well as a digital edition.
Exceptional photographs highlight how innovative marine experts and scientists take the pulse of the ocean by exploring ecosystems, studying the movement of species, or revealing the hidden ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 21 October 2020
Following requests from the United Republic of Tanzania, the World Heritage Fund has granted a total of USD 59,836 in International Financial Assistance for two new projects to address conservation and management needs at two World Heritage sites: the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara and Kondoa Rock-Art Sites.
A project signing ceremony convened by the Tanzania National ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 20 October 2020
The Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mechtild Rössler, expressed concern after the fire that, on the afternoon of 11 October, broke out in Kilimanjaro National Park (United Republic of Tanzania), a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987.
"We are in contact with the Tanzania National Park Authority (TANAPA) which is currently carrying out an initial assessment of ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 20 October 2020
With support from the German Commission for UNESCO’s #SOSAfricanHeritage Fund, seven World Heritage sites from five Eastern African countries have received grants to help overcome impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on management and conservation.
The recipients include: Simien National Park in Ethiopia; Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests and Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest in Kenya; Tsingy ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Altering the route of the Transgabonese highway near the Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda will better protect the World Heritage site.
The Transgabonese highway project, which is to cross five provinces of Gabon to link Libreville (West) and Franceville (East) by expressway, foresees the rehabilitation and upgrading of various roads. The World Heritage Committee had ...
1 min read
Friday, 9 October 2020
On the 1st of October, the second online World Heritage Nomination workshop, for Anglophone and Francophone countries, was officially closed by the Director of the World Heritage Centre. The training examined the challenges and strengths of nomination dossiers for 12 countries from the African Region, namely Benin, Cameroon, Côte-d’Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia ...
2 min read
Friday, 9 October 2020
Migratory birds are part of our shared natural World Heritage. They depend on critical breeding, staging and wintering sites along major flyways which often span several continents. Two of the world’s largest migratory bird stop-over areas, Wadden Sea and Banc d’Arguin National Park were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2009 and 1989 respectively. This World Migratory Bird Day, we ...
1 min read
Friday, 9 October 2020
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has received numerous emails with third-party information regarding the construction of a concrete road passing through the World Heritage property “Sinharaja Forest Reserve” (Sri Lanka), which could negatively affect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of this property. The road development was reportedly under temporary suspension, but work appears to have ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 7 October 2020
As part of an ongoing UNESCO World Heritage Fund International Assistance project “Capacity building and implementation of the World Heritage Convention in South Sudan”, UNESCO Juba Office in close collaboration with the South Sudan Ministry of Culture, Museums and National Heritage organized a three-day training workshop aimed at strengthening capacities of World Heritage stakeholders under ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 6 October 2020
International experts from the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) led an online meeting on the theme "Safeguarding the cultural heritage of Comoros" for government stakeholders in Comoros on 29 September 2020. The meeting was organized in close collaboration with the Direction General for Arts and Culture of Comoros and reinforced existing UNESCO projects ...
2 min read
Friday, 2 October 2020
Global strategy needed in ‘watershed’ moment to steer away from unsustainable tourism, stress experts at UNESCO debate.
The online debate ‘Culture, Tourism and COVID-19: Recovery, Resiliency and Rejuvenation’ took place on 28 September and highlighted the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry and the crippling effect it is having on many World Heritage sites, intangible ...
3 min read
Thursday, 1 October 2020
The Director of the World Heritage Centre, Dr Mechtild Rössler, launches the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting in the region of Asia and the Pacific via a video message addressed to the National Focal Points
One of the two main monitoring mechanisms within the framework of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, alongside Reactive Monitoring, the Periodic Reporting exercise is a statutory ...
2 min read
Monday, 28 September 2020
The ‘Culture, Tourism and COVID-19: Recovery, Resiliency and Rejuvenation’ global debate takes place on 28 September, 2020, 13.30-15.00 CET. The debate is organized by UNESCO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property ...
2 min read
Thursday, 24 September 2020
The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention set forth the procedures for the protection and conservation of World Heritage properties, the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, the granting of International Assistance under the World Heritage Fund, and the mobilization of national and international ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 23 September 2020
In the framework of the new communication strategy with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), the World Heritage Centre (WHC), the Africa and Arab State units, and the AWHF held an online quarterly meeting on 22 September 2020.
The AWHF presented its Work plan for the 16 activities (from now until the beginning of 2021) including Online Nomination Training for African Countries, Training ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 23 September 2020
UNESCO will host the last of three ResiliArt online debates dedicated to Lebanon, ResiliArt Lebanon: Bridging the Past and Future through Built Heritage, on 24 September, from 6 pm to 7.30 pm (CET). It will bring together experts and actors in the field of built heritage to discuss the impact of the 4 August blast on the architectural and urban heritage of Beirut, and ways to implement a ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 22 September 2020
The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Audrey Azoulay, strongly condemned the killing of two employees of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) on 17 September 2020 at the Adusa post of the entrance to the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a property inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"In a global context already weakened by a health ...
1 min read
Monday, 21 September 2020
‘Le Pôle international francophone de formation et d’échanges des gestionnaires de sites patrimoniaux’ is offering training for French speaking site managers in 2022. The Call for applications is open until 15 November 2021. The 8th edition of intensive international training for site managers "Building together the future of heritage sites: developing and implementing sustainable management" ...
2 min read
Saturday, 19 September 2020
World Cleanup Day harnesses the power of people around the world to cooperate and collaborate to clean our environment, including UNESCO World Heritage sites. This effort involves all levels of society – from citizens to business, to government to reduce the harmful effects of pollution in communities all over the world.
Pollution is a global problem requiring a global solution, even in the ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
Unprecedented fires are blazing through the Pantanal, threatening numerous endangered species and the highly valuable ecosystem. The Rapid Response Facility, a joint initiative of UNESCO and Fauna and Flora International (FFI), is supporting firefighting activity in the Pantanal Biosphere Reserve to prevent fires from spreading into the Pantanal Conservation Area World Heritage site.
The ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
The African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) is coordinating the Modern Heritage of Africa (MoHoA) Programme in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to define, identify, ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Three participants from Ethiopia, together with 16 other representatives from Anglophone Africa, are taking part in an online World Heritage Nomination Workshop for Advanced Dossiers under the framework of the World Heritage Nomination Capacity Building Programme from 10 to 17 September 2020.
The online workshop, which was organized by the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), International ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Two World Heritage properties in Madagascar - Tsingy de Bemaraha Integrated Nature Reserve and the Belo-sur-Mer Kirindy-Mitea Biosphere Reserve - received financial support for COVID-19 recovery and emergency response from the programme #SOSAfricanHeritage funded by the German Commission for UNESCO.
The grants follow submission of two project proposals by Madagascar National Parks entitled ...
1 min read
Monday, 14 September 2020
Following a devastating fire on 5 June 2020 at the World Heritage property of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi in Uganda, UNESCO, through the Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF), is providing financial and technical assistance to support the urgent procurement and installation of a firefighting system at the property, as well as training in fire prevention and disaster risk management for the ...
2 min read
Friday, 11 September 2020
Heavy rainfall over the past week in Sudan has resulted in extensive flooding, destroying homes, infrastructure, farms and livelihoods of communities.
This situation, which might make it increasingly difficult to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, has prompted the declaration of a three-month state of emergency in the country.
UNESCO is closely monitoring the situation of two World Heritage ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 2 September 2020
Within the framework of the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the inscription of the Mayan Site of Copán on the World Heritage List, the Honduran authorities and the UNESCO Multi-Country Office in San José organized the debate “The Role of World Heritage for Sustainable Development in the Framework of the Post-COVID-19 Crisis: The Example of the Mayan Site of Copán.”
This event was an ...
2 min read
Join the World Heritage Volunteers Campaign 2021 ‘Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage’
Tuesday, 1 September 2020
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the Call for Projects for the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Campaign 2021 ‘Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage’.
This Call is an invitation for all interested organizations and institutions to apply for the WHV 2021 Campaign with their proposed projects, and join the selected organizations/institutions of the WHV 2020 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 26 August 2020
UNESCO and the Ministry for Culture in Comoros have joined forces to carry out a project for "Capacity-building in Sustainable Tourism Development and Management for World Heritage in the Comoros" financed by the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust to UNESCO, which will be carried out in partnership with the National Centre for Scientific Research and Documentation (CNDRS) starting in September 2020 ...
2 min read
Monday, 24 August 2020
Conservation works to reinforce Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, a World Heritage property in the island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, have been completed.
The works were started in August 2019 with the deconstruction of sections of the fortress wall that were too weak. Care was taken to ensure that the stones were placed according to the original style of construction, and it was ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 19 August 2020
Following destruction caused by Cyclone Amphan, quick action is needed to save the lives of both people and tigers. The Rapid Response Facility (RRF) is supporting WWF India to restore human-tiger conflict prevention measures in the Indian part of the Sundarbans, home of a World Heritage Site, Biosphere Reserve, as well as a Ramsar site.
The Sundarbans is the world’s largest contiguous ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 18 August 2020
Four participants from Comoros and Rwanda are joining 14 other representatives from African countries to participate in a two-day online workshop entitled "Elaboration of nominations to the World Heritage List" on 13 and 14 August 2020.
The workshop, organized by the School of African Heritage (École du Patrimoine Africain - EPA) in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 13 August 2020
Following the devastating twin explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, on 4 August, UNESCO mobilized leading cultural organizations and experts from Lebanon and abroad in an online meeting on 10 August to coordinate emergency and longer-term measures to safeguard the city’s severely damaged cultural heritage and rehabilitate its cultural life.
The explosions at the port of Beirut did not only claim ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 12 August 2020
The theme of International Youth Day 2020, “Youth Engagement for Global Action” aims to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be enhanced.
Our World Heritage is ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 11 August 2020
UNESCO profoundly regrets the loss of life and property in a number of historic centers in Yemen, including in the World Heritage sites of Zabid, Shibam, and Sana’a, in recent days following exceptional extreme weather conditions in the country.
The resulting damage is endangering the lives of the inhabitants of these historic centers, leaving some of them without adequate shelter and ...
2 min read
Monday, 10 August 2020
While reiterating expressions of condolence and solidarity with the people of Lebanon in the wake of the tragic explosions in Beirut on 4 August 2020, UNESCO is taking action and organizing a meeting on 10 August together with the Directorate General of Antiquities in the Ministry of Culture of Lebanon and its partners – ALIPH, ARC-WH, Blue Shield, ICCROM, ICOM and ICOMOS - to jointly assess ...
1 min read
Saturday, 8 August 2020
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, the link between environmental damage and pandemics has again been established. Many indigenous peoples have warned over decades about increasing threats to natural heritage so important for their survival. Through their traditional knowledge and their relationship to nature, they have long known that environmental dilapidation can trigger disease.
We are ...
1 min read
Friday, 7 August 2020
The World Heritage Centre and the advisory body for natural World Heritage, IUCN, are following with concern the situation in the immediate surroundings of the Galápagos Islands, where the massive presence of industrial fishing vessels from diverse nationalities has been repeatedly reported by media worldwide.
The state of conservation for the Galápagos Islands, including the outcomes of ...
1 min read
Friday, 7 August 2020
UNESCO expresses its condolences for the death of José de los Santos Sauna, Governor of the indigenous community of the Kogui people, on 6 August 2020 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia), caused by coronavirus Covid-19.
The cabildo governor will be remembered as one of the most representative leaders of the indigenous peoples of Colombia, who stood out for his work in defending ...
1 min read
Friday, 7 August 2020
The German Commission for UNESCO invites UNESCO World Heritage sites and possibly other UNESCO designated sites such as Biosphere Reserves in Africa to submit proposals for financial support projects that help UNESCO designated sites to overcome an existing impairment due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Through this support, the German Commission for UNESCO contributes to a relief fund set up by ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 5 August 2020
UNESCO, through the World Heritage Centre and the Secretariat of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, is observing with attention and concern the large number of fires which have struck the Pantanal ecoregion in recent weeks.
According to information provided by experts and firefighters on site as well as satellite data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE - ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 5 August 2020
Resilient Reefs introduced its bold, inclusive approach to climate adaptation at the first G20 International Working Group on Coral Reef Conservation in July 2020. Reef Resilience is a new approach to marine conservation being piloted across five UNESCO-listed World Heritage sites, and backed by a global private-public consortium.
The working group, held by videoconference and hosted by the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 4 August 2020
UNESCO will support the social cohesion and resilience of communities suffering from years of armed conflict in central Mali as part of a major new project, made possible through USD 1 million in funding from the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH).
The project will provide critical support to the rehabilitation of the World Heritage site of ...
3 min read
Saturday, 1 August 2020
UNESCO expresses its sorrow at the death of Mr Eusebio Leal on 31 July 2020. Historian of the city of Havana, Cuba and Director of the conservation programme for the historic centre of Havana, Eusebio Leal was an exceptional witness to and actor for cultural heritage worldwide.
The passing of Mr. Leal is a great loss for the city of Havana and for Cuba. UNESCO offers its condolences to the ...
1 min read
Friday, 31 July 2020
World Ranger Day is celebrated on 31 July to commemorate Rangers killed or injured in the line of duty and to celebrate the work Rangers do to protect the world's natural and cultural heritage.
Climate change, poaching and armed conflict are some of the challenges facing World Heritage. The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified these issues affecting sites and the managers who protect them.
The ...
1 min read
Friday, 31 July 2020
A new armed attack was carried out this Tuesday, July 28, 2020 against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), inside the Virunga National Park, a site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is currently believed that seven soldiers were killed in the territory of Beni, in the province of North Kivu.
These actions are reminiscent of the tragic events of ...
1 min read
Friday, 31 July 2020
Rangers face tremendous odds while undertaking their work protecting Africa’s remaining wild places. A recent survey of rangers conducted by the WWF showed that almost 80% of the 1,742 respondents had faced a life-threatening encounter during their work.
Tragically, in the last 12 months at least 137 rangers have died worldwide according to the International Ranger Federation. The Game ...
2 min read
Friday, 24 July 2020
Marine debris accumulates on the beaches of even the most remote and pristine UNESCO marine World Heritage sites, including Aldabra Atoll (Seychelles). Through action, education and research, the Seychelles Island Foundation removed 25 tons of waste, including 60,000 plastic flipflops.
Aldabra Atoll was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982 as one of the largest raised coral ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 22 July 2020
The coronavirus has challenged the core of what makes cities vibrant and successful: busy streets full of people. Will these cities ever come back to be the same? The webinar on Euro-Mediterranean cities in the post-pandemic era, organized by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Secretariat in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, reflected on sustainable urban development in ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 21 July 2020
UNESCO grants emergency funds for reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed by floods and landslides at Rwenzori Mountains National Park
At the beginning of May 2020, torrential rain occurred in and around Rwenzori Mountains National Park (Uganda), a property inscribed on the World Heritage List.
The excessive rain caused heavy flooding which destroyed wildlife habitats and essential ...
2 min read
Monday, 20 July 2020
On 20 and 21 July 2020, World Heritage Focal Points and Site Managers from 19 countries of the Arab States region, Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention, the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), World Heritage experts, UNESCO Field Offices, and the World Heritage Centre (WHC) participated in a virtual meeting.
The meeting, organized within the framework of the Third ...
1 min read
Saturday, 18 July 2020
Today is Nelson Mandela International Day. Nelson Mandela spent the greatest number of years that he was in prison - 18 out of 27 on Robben Island (South Africa) World Heritage site.
Robben Island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base. Its buildings, particularly those of the late 20th ...
1 min read
Friday, 17 July 2020
The “Technical Meeting on the Recovery of the World Heritage Site of Palmyra” took place on 18 December 2019 at UNESCO’s Headquarters, with the aim of reflecting on, and discussing the recovery of Palmyra, as a World Heritage property.
The meeting followed the latest World Heritage Committee Decisions, requesting to limit restoration works to first aid interventions until the security ...
1 min read
Friday, 10 July 2020
Hagia Sophia: UNESCO deeply regrets the decision of the Turkish authorities, made without prior discussion, and calls for the universal value of World Heritage to be preserved
The Director-General of UNESCO deeply regrets the decision of the Turkish authorities, made without prior discussion, to change the status of Hagia Sophia. This evening, she shared her serious concerns with the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 7 July 2020
An international team of researchers is conducting interviews with pioneers of World Heritage to capture memories of important moments in the history of the World Heritage Convention.
Launched in 2006 under the leadership of the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage at the University of Montreal, and developed in collaboration with UNESCO Archives, this initiative is part of the UNESCO ...
2 min read
Monday, 6 July 2020
From 17 to 26 June 2020, UNESCO successfully organised its first World Heritage City Lab, an online innovation laboratory for analysis, assessment, learning, and development of strategies for the protection and management of World Heritage properties in the urban context.
Carried out in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention— the International Council on ...
3 min read
Monday, 6 July 2020
On 7 July, the Government of Cambodia will organize a ceremony at the Preah Vihear Temple to mark the twelfth anniversary after its inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
The National Authority for Preah Vihear, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has been making safeguarding efforts to preserve the value and authenticity as an outstanding historical monument, whilst urging international ...
2 min read
Thursday, 2 July 2020
The Director of the World Heritage Centre held a bilateral meeting, on 1 July, with the Ambassador Permanent Delegate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to UNESCO in order coordinate the joint actions that could be taken concerning the state of conservation of the property Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas within the framework of cooperation between UNESCO and the State Party.
During the ...
1 min read
Friday, 26 June 2020
The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Azoulay, expressed her sorrow and deep concern over the new armed attack, perpetrated in the morning of Wednesday 24 June 2020, against guards of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), inside the Virunga National Park, a property inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
After the terrible ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 24 June 2020
The Lopé National Park in Gabon is a site inscribed on the World Heritage List since 2007 under the name "Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda".
It is described as mixed (nature/culture) because of its remarkable forest-savanna landscapes and its many vestiges of past cultures. Initial research in the 1980s led to the discovery of carved stone tools, revealing very ancient ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 23 June 2020
As countries around the world grapple with COVID-19, the global pandemic also threatens our close evolutionary ‘cousins’ and one of the world’s most iconic threatened species - the mountain gorilla.
UNESCO’s Rapid Response Facility (RRF) has provided critical emergency support to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, to safeguard one of the world’s last remaining mountain gorilla populations ...
2 min read
Monday, 8 June 2020
This year’s United Nations World Oceans Day – which is traditionally celebrated on 8 June – highlights the critical importance of innovation for a sustainable ocean.
From drone wildlife tracking in Russia’s Wrangel Island Reserve System to the use of artificial intelligence at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are spearheading scientific innovation in ways ...
2 min read
Saturday, 6 June 2020
UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., joined the Buganda Kingdom and local communities in mourning the serious destruction of one of the sacred houses (Abalongo) at the Tombs of Buganda Kings of Kasubi, following a devastating fire which took place on 5 June, in Uganda, a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000.
"We are in contact with the ...
1 min read
Friday, 5 June 2020
June 5th is World Environment Day.
The foods we eat, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that makes our planet habitable all come from nature. These are exceptional times, and to care for ourselves we must care for nature. A few projects:
Central Africa World Heritage Forest Initiative
The conservation, sustainable exploitation and management of forest sites in Central ...
1 min read
Friday, 5 June 2020
On 2 June 2020, UNESCO successfully launched its first online international Expert Workshop on the Culture|2030 Indicators, with an opening speech by Mr Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture and Ms Silvia Montoya, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).
The Culture|2030 Indicators were developed in collaboration with the UNESCO Institute for ...
1 min read
Friday, 5 June 2020
UNESCO has welcomed the announcement by Bernard Looney, CEO of BP, that the energy giant will refrain from undertaking new oil and gas exploration or production activities within natural, cultural or mixed UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The company has furthermore agreed to consult with UNESCO in case they consider such projects in buffer zones or other areas adjacent to World Heritage sites. ...
2 min read
Thursday, 4 June 2020
UNESCO expresses its deep concern over cyclone 'Amphan', which recently hit Bangladesh and eastern India, and wishes to express its deepest sympathy for the loss of human life and the material damage caused by this disaster, in solidarity with the people affected.
On 20 May 2020, cyclone Amphan made landfall across the West Bengal-Bangladesh coast, which includes two World Heritage ...
1 min read
Friday, 22 May 2020
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 ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
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 ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
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 ...
29 min read
Friday, 15 May 2020
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 ...
1 min read
Thursday, 14 May 2020
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 ...
2 min read
Friday, 8 May 2020
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 ...
2 min read
Thursday, 7 May 2020
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, ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 6 May 2020
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 ...
2 min read
Monday, 4 May 2020
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 ...
3 min read
Saturday, 25 April 2020
The Director-General of UNESCO, Ms Azoulay, strongly condemned the killing of 13 employees of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), and of four civilians on 24 April 2020 in the vicinity of Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage property in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"In a global context already weakened by a health crisis linked to COVID-19, the ...
1 min read
Thursday, 23 April 2020
Over 130 Ministers and Vice-Ministers of Culture joined the online meeting convened by UNESCO to discuss actions to bolster the cultural sector, which is facing unprecedented upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ministers spoke of the direct effects of the current crisis on tourism, museums, cultural production and artists, as well as the measures that they have taken to mitigate the ...
5 min read
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Recent heavy rains reported in the Old City of Sana’a, Yemen, have resulted in extensive damage to the city’s infrastructure, homes, and residential areas located along Wadi Sailah.
“UNESCO is deeply concerned about the impact of these flash floods on the Old City of Sana’a and the people who live there. We stand ready to assist in any way we can,” said Ernesto Ottone R., Assistant ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Ernesto Ottone R., expressed his concern about the fire that, on the morning of 13 April, seriously affected the Milot Church inside the National Historic Park - Citadel, Sans Souci, Ramiers, in Haiti, a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982.
"We are in contact with the National Heritage Preservation Institute (ISPAN), ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
A year has passed since the fire that ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. The Cathedral is part of the World Heritage site “Paris, Banks of the Seine” and a fine symbol of Gothic architecture.
The flames tore through the upper levels of the 12th century cathedral on the evening of 15 April 2019, destroying two-thirds of its roof and collapsing its famous spire. Parisians and ...
2 min read
Monday, 13 April 2020
COVID-19 has presented a host of new challenges for parents and guardians of young children, the majority of whom are out of school. Yet confinement can also be an opportunity – for learning, creativity and discovery.
To encourage this creativity, UNESCO is inviting children between ages 6 and 12 to draw a UNESCO World Heritage site that matters to them, from now until 17 May 2020. This ...
2 min read
Thursday, 9 April 2020
UNESCO is launching initiatives to support cultural industries and cultural heritage as billions of people around the world turn to culture for comfort and to overcome social isolation during the COVID-19 sanitary crisis, which is hitting the culture sector hard.
“The global nature of the COVID-19 crisis is a call for the international community to reinvest in international cooperation and ...
3 min read
Friday, 3 April 2020
The Archaeological Site of Nahr El-Kalb is an exceptional monument that testifies to the rich cultural heritage of Lebanon. The site has been included on the Tentative List of Lebanon since 2019, for potential nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The site’s exceptional documentary heritage includes the commemorative stelae of Nahr El-Kalb, which reflect the entire history of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 2 April 2020
COVID-19 has brought into stark relief, as crises often do, the necessity of culture for people and communities. At a time when billions of people are physically separated from one another, culture brings us together.
It provides comfort, inspiration and hope at a time of enormous anxiety and uncertainty. Yet even as we rely on culture to get us through this crisis, culture is also ...
6 min read
Saturday, 21 March 2020
The massive wildfires in the Amazon, Australia, Central Africa, East Asia and Siberia last year brought forests to the headlines.
Forests are vitally important for sustaining life on Earth. It is estimated that around 1.6 billion people - including more than 2,000 indigenous cultures - depend on forests for their livelihoods, medicine, fuel, food and shelter. The protection of world’s ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 17 March 2020
Over the last year, Yabotí, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 1995 and one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, has witnessed a dramatic surge in illegal wildlife poaching.
This Atlantic forest of more than 236,000 hectares is home to unique plants and animals, such as jaguars, bush dogs, tapirs and harpy eagles, among other threatened species. With funding severely hit by the economic ...
2 min read
Monday, 16 March 2020
A celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the completion of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia took place at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, Cairo (Egypt) on 10 March 2020.
The International Campaign was launched in 1960 to relocate and reassemble six groups of monuments in Nubia threatened by the artificial lake created by the Aswan ...
1 min read
Thursday, 12 March 2020
On 5 and 6 March 2020, the World Heritage Centre hosted a technical meeting to support Libya in the drafting of the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, and in the development of the Desired State of Conservation and corrective measures for the eventual removal of Old Town of Ghadamès from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
The meeting, which was held at UNESCO Headquarters in ...
1 min read
Monday, 9 March 2020
Marine World Heritage:50 Beacons of Hope in a changing ocean
Last year was a year of highs and lows for marine World Heritage. Sites made progress in strengthening climate adaptation capacity, adopting zero emission policies and establishing fisheries no-take zones. The 2020 Annual Overview of the UNESCO World Heritage Marine Programme – which was made public today – summarizes a year of ...
2 min read
Sunday, 8 March 2020
Workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the UNESCO Khartoum Office aiming at developing a sustainable tourism strategy for the World Heritage Site of Gebal Barkal and the Napatan Region. In this context, between 9 and 13 March 2020, a mission team conducted a site visit to all the components of the serial property and steered various consultations ...
1 min read
Sunday, 8 March 2020
Workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the UNESCO Khartoum Office aiming at developing a sustainable tourism strategy for the World Heritage Site of Gebal Barkal and the Napatan Region.
In this context, between 9 and 13 March 2020, a mission team conducted a site visit to all the components of the serial property and steered various consultations ...
1 min read
Sunday, 8 March 2020
Workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the UNESCO Khartoum Office aiming at developing a sustainable tourism strategy for the World Heritage Site of Gebal Barkal and the Napatan Region. In this context, between 9 and 13 March 2020, a mission team conducted a site visit to all the components of the serial property and steered various consultations ...
1 min read
Sunday, 8 March 2020
Workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the UNESCO Khartoum Office aiming at developing a sustainable tourism strategy for the World Heritage Site of Gebal Barkal and the Napatan Region. In this context, between 9 and 13 March 2020, a mission team conducted a site visit to all the components of the serial property and steered various consultations ...
1 min read
Sunday, 8 March 2020
Workshops were organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the UNESCO Khartoum Office aiming at developing a sustainable tourism strategy for the World Heritage Site of Gebal Barkal and the Napatan Region.
The workshops were organized within the framework of the Netherlands funds-in-trust project Contributing to Sustainable Tourism at the World Heritage site of “Gebel ...
1 min read
Friday, 6 March 2020
With the sustainable development policy adopted by the General Assembly of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in November 2015, we look towards a more peaceful and sustainable planet and the balance of power in our relationships continues to be an important issue to redress in this new framework. This Women’s Day highlights the need for Gender Equality and women’s empowerment ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 3 March 2020
The Government of Japan announced that it would provide USD 3.8 million dollars in financial support to the World Heritage property of ‘Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley’ in Afghanistan.
The property was inscribed simultaneously on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2003, after the destruction of the Giant Buddhas, in ...
2 min read
Monday, 2 March 2020
Today is World Wildlife Day with the theme, “Sustaining all life on Earth.” This encompasses all wild animal and plant species as a component of biodiversity, as well as the livelihoods of people.
The animals and plants that live in the wild have intrinsic value and contribute to the ecological, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of human ...
2 min read
Thursday, 27 February 2020
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of Doñana National Park, the Spanish authorities organized “Doñana, 50 years of a National Park” from 14 to 16 February in Almonte (Spain) in the presence of King Felipe VI.
The event brought together a great number of Spanish and international experts, local communities, NGOs and different institutions to exchange on experiences and lessons ...
1 min read
Friday, 14 February 2020
From 8 to 13 February, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, hosted the 10th session of the World Urban Forum dedicated to Cities of Opportunities: Connecting Culture and Innovation, a theme that resonates closely with UNESCO’s mission and priorities. The event brought together decision-makers, representatives of international organizations, civil society and international experts, to leverage ...
6 min read
Wednesday, 12 February 2020
Today is World Radio Day, proclaimed in 2011 by Member States of UNESCO, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012 as an International Day to highlight the importance of radio.
Radio is a powerful medium for celebrating humanity in all its diversity. At the global level, radio remains the most widely consumed medium. This unique ability to reach out to the widest audience ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Director-General Audrey Azoulay today carried out a historic visit to Somalia, the first by a Director-General of UNESCO to reestablish the long tradition of cooperation between UNESCO and the country after years of conflict. The Director-General held talks with Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire, Minister of Education, Culture and Higher Education, Abdullahi Godah Barre, and Minister of Women ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 4 February 2020
UNESCO expresses its sadness and dismay at the disappearance of Mr Raúl Hernández, guide of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico) and committed nature conservation activist, whose body, bearing signs of violence, was found on 3 February in the state of Michoacán.
UNESCO is calling for light to be shed on the extremely disturbing circumstances that marked his death, a few days ...
1 min read
Friday, 31 January 2020
World Wetlands Day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Today’s World Wetlands Day under the theme, ‘Wetlands and Biodiversity,’ is an opportunity to highlight the importance of wetland biodiversity conservation.
The significance of wetland biodiversity was stressed recently by the ...
3 min read
Friday, 31 January 2020
The Director of the World Heritage Centre, Ms Mechtild Rössler, and Mr Miguel Clüsener-Godt, Director of the Man and the Biosphere Programme, express their deep sadness and profound concern following the death, ascertained on 29 January 2020, of Mr Homero Gómez González, manager of a component of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico), property inscribed on the World Heritage List ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 15 January 2020
UNESCO’s International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust will take place on 22 January and focus on the Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, whose liberation took place 75 years ago (27 January 1945). This year, the Organization will mark the anniversary at its Headquarters in Paris with a conference, a ceremony, and two exhibitions ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 7 January 2020
It is with the deepest sorrow that we learned of the passing of Dr Roland Silva, former President of ICOMOS International (1990-1999) and its Emiritus President thereafter.
He died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 1 January 2020 at the age of 86 after a brief illness. On this very sad occasion, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to join Dr Silva’s friends from all corners of the world in ...
2 min read
Monday, 6 January 2020
The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on Monday received Ahmad Jalali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and discussed tensions in the Middle East with particular regard to heritage and culture.
The Director-General recalled the provisions of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 Convention Concerning the ...
1 min read
Monday, 30 December 2019
The World Heritage Centre has launched an Online Consultation with key World Heritage stakeholders on the updating of the “Policy Document on the Impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage properties”. The consultation, which is taking place until 20 January 2020, will gather feedback and comments from key World Heritage stakeholders of the World Heritage Convention on this crucial ...
1 min read
