News

Second letter from the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee to the Environmental Groups concerning the Whale Sanctuary of El Viscaino

The letter follows the receipt of about 30,000 petitions received and numerous individual letters and e-mails sent to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Letter sent by the Chairman of the World Heritage Committee to the Environmental Groups concerning the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (Mexico)

Kyoto,Japan - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting in Kyoto since November 30, has added 30 new sites and one extension to its World Heritage List of cultural and natural sites, bringing the number of listed sites of "exceptional universal value" to 582 in 114 countries. For the first time, the List includes sites located in Belgium and the Solomon Islands. Among this year's ...

Kyoto, (Japan) - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee today announced it removed the Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia) and the Wieliczka Salt Mines (Poland) from its List of World Heritage in Danger due to the success of measures undertaken for their restoration and preservation. Dubrovnik, the Dalmatian Coast city dubbed "the pearl of the Adriatic" and dotted with beautiful Gothic, ...

Paris - UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee will hold its annual meeting from November 30 to December 5 in Kyoto (Japan) at the close of which it will inscribe new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger. Alongside the 22nd session of the Committee, UNESCO is organising another event in Japan the International World Heritage Youth Forum ...

At 3.30 AM on Saturday 25th April 1998 the south coast of Spain was host to what has been dubbed the worst environmental disaster in Europe. A supporting wall of the reservoir containing the toxic wastes of the Aznalcollar mine burst, releasing 5 million cubic metres of toxic mud and acidic water onto the surrounding landscape. The toxic waste entered the Agrio River, a tributary of the ...

The following sites have been inscribed on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee at its 21st session, meeting in Naples, Italy, 1-6 December, 1997. A total of 46 sites were inscribed: 7 natural sites; 38 cultural sites; and 1 mixed site. The work of the 21st Session thus brings the total number of sites on the World Heritage List to 552 (418 cultural, 114 natural and 20 ...

Threats to World Heritage areas in Australia continues to claim media headlines. At the Kakadu World Heritage area the Australian Government is supporting the development of a new uranium mine. At present the Government is awaiting an environmental impact statement and negotiating with the local indigenous population who are opposing the mine. In the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area the ...

The organizers of a symposium on world cultural heritage, held in Hildesheim, Germany 23 February - 1 March 1997 have announced the publication of the proceedings of this symposium, entitled: "World Cultural Heritage: A Global Challenge." The work contains all the presentations and the resolution adopted at this week-long conference.Seven representative projects from all five continents ...

Between 6 and 11 September, the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, were threatened by a large brush fire, eventually consuming over 800 hectares of mountain forest. At one time more than 400 firefighters pumped water on the dense vegetation on the hills surrounding the World Heritage site to prevent the fire from reaching the ruins. The fire was believed to have been started by local farmers ...

We have opened the ICONS_L mailing list for discussing issues related to the International Conservation Networking System (ICONS), a relational database management system in support of networking on biodiversity and conservation issues, and for information management by indigenous and community-based organizations.ICONS provides basic structures for the management of bibliographies, ...

Paris - UNESCO'S Director-General Federico Mayor launched yesterday in Maputo an international appeal to safeguard the Island of Mozambique. He also inaugurated, on behalf of the United Nations System, a trust fund to implement the Agenda for the Sustainable Development and Integral Conservation of the World Heritage Site of the Island of Mozambique. UNESCO is contributing US$100,000 to the ...

The Ninth Forum of Ministers of Cultural Heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in Cartagena, Colombia from 27 to 30 June 1997 has formally endorsed the conclusions and recommendations of an expert meeting calling for the nomination of a multi-national "Fortifications in the Caribbean."  The Ministers decided to support the initiative of Colombia to work towards the ...

Paris - UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor expressed sadness over the reported death yesterday of Raymond Lemaire, his special advisor and representative on the cultural heritage of Jerusalem. "UNESCO has lost one of its most outstanding experts. No cultural site or monument in the world was foreign to Raymond Lemaire," Mr Mayor said. "He applied his great expertise as one of the editors ...

The National Center for Heritage Development with conference host, the Illinois & Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, announce Rally III for America's Real Places: Best Practices in Heritage Development and Cultural Tourism. If you would be interested in becoming a conference Sponsor, Partner or Exhibitor please contact the National Center at 202-885-8910 or by e-mail at nchd@al.net. ...

Both ICOMOS and ICCROM have recently established new addresses on the World Wide Web. In addition to its site at www.icomos.org in North America, ICOMOS now also has a second site in Europe, www.international.icomos.org. Both sites contain the same materials, and users should choose the site which is closest to them for access.ICCROM, which until recently has shared space on the ICOMOS ...

The Antiquities Development Project of the American Research Center in Egypt is committed to undertaking three dimensional architectural surveys at the two Monasteries of St. Paul and St Anthony and the Ottoman Fort at Quseir, by the Red Sea coast of Egypt. This is part of the conservation and restoration projects currently carried out by the Antiquities Development Project at these ...

in the environment of EU INFO2000 programme has been realized a proposal regarding an Archaeological Geographic Information System in the Mediterranean area. In this first phase a demo prototype on the Via Aurelia (Italy) and Via Domizia (France) is working at the address: www.aec2000.it/archeologis

The twenty-first session of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 23 to 28 June 1997. The seven Bureau members, Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco and Niger, were joined by observer delegations from thirty-seven other States Parties, as well as representatives of the Advisory Bodies.The agenda included an examination of the ...

The Asia & West Pacific Network for Urban Conservation (AWPNUC) was formed in 1991 for the purpose of exchanging cultural information and technical expertise in the area of urban conservation. The members are predominantly urban conservation advocates, professionals and practitioners who are actively involved in international networking and/or projects outside their home countries.Anyone who ...