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Take advantage of the search to browse through the World Heritage Convention information.
1.
During the 30th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 8-16 July, 18 new sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List. They include two natural sites and the extension of one natural site, which also became a transboundary property. Sixteen cultural sites were inscribed, one of them transboundary and three existing sites were extended. ...
2.
Forty-two new sites will be proposed for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List during the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee scheduled for July 10-17 at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban, South Africa. Extensions will be proposed for nine already inscribed sites. UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura will address the opening ...
3.
The book 'Patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO : les sites marocains' ('UNESCO World Heritage: the Moroccan sites') is a voyage to an exceptional part of Moroccan heritage. Ancient traces, fairytale wanderings, exquisite landscapes: writer-photographer Jean-Jacques Gelbart has captured Morocco's most incredible sites through the lens of his camera.
Eight writers have ...
4.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the three Advisory Bodies – ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN – are developing their first joint toolkit on climate action for World Heritage. Developed with initial funding from the Australian Government, the toolkit will support States Parties and site managers to integrate climate change in the management strategies of UNESCO World Heritage ...
5.
The 45th session of the World Heritage Committee concluded on Monday 25 September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This year, the Committee inscribed 42 new sites and approved the extension of 5 sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
At the end of its fortnight's work, the Committee inscribed 42 new sites, of which 33 are cultural sites and 9 are natural sites. These sites will ...
6.
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982, Tipasa on the shores of the Mediterranean, comprises Phoenician, Roman, palaeochristian and Byzantine ruins alongside indigenous monuments such as the Kbor er Roumia, the great royal mausoleum of Mauritania. An ancient Punic trading-post conquered by Rome, Tipasa turned into a strategic base for the conquest of the kingdoms of ...
7.
Managers from 10 World Heritage sites throughout Africa met at the IUCN ESARO regional offices in Nairobi, Kenya to reflect on and learn more about management effectiveness of natural World Heritage sites in Africa.
The Africa Nature project, a collaborative effort by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, IUCN and the African World Heritage Fund, with financial support from ...
8.
UNESCO and HarperCollins Publishers are pleased to announce the release of the world's first fully comprehensive World Heritage sites application (app) for iPhone and iPad.
This UNESCO-authorised app provides a guide to all 911 UNESCO World Heritage sites, incorporating the 21 newly-inscribed sites announced in July 2010, including the Rainforests of Atsinanana in ...
9.
Paris - The World Heritage Committee will hold its 26th annual session from June 24 to 29 in Budapest, Hungary, during which it will inscribe new sites on the World Heritage List and review the List of World Heritage in Danger. The intergovernmental World Heritage Committee consists of 21 members elected by the General Assembly of the 172 States Parties to the World ...
10.
The National Centre for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG), the Ministry of Sports and Culture of Rwanda and UNESCO organized an international experts meeting on the World Heritage Convention and Memory Sites from 7 to 9 November 2016 with support from the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF). The three-day workshop included visits to Murambi and Nyamata memorial sites, which ...
11.
Paris, 17 May 2022 – The Principality of Monaco and UNESCO signed today a new 3-year partnership to strengthen the scientific research of marine sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List and to pave the way for the use of carbon credit to help finance sites’ conservation efforts.
The new 3-year partnership will explore how carbon credit can help finance on-site conservation ...
12.
A new book Les 200 plus beaux sites du monde (The 200 most beautiful sites in
the World), published by Hachette-Tourism to commemorate 10 years of the Voir collection,
was launched in Paris at UNESCO Headquarters on 11 October 2004.
Among the 200 sites selected by the editors, 125 are inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage
List. Published in large format, two full ...
13.
A new website launched by Wetlands International, BirdLife International and the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) reveals major gaps in the protection of many critical sites used by migratory waterbirds across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia.
The new 'Critical Site Network (CSN)' Tool (www.wingsoverwetlands.org/csntool) provides ...
14.
‘Le Pole international francophone de formation et d’echanges 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 ...
15.
The World Heritage Committee Thursday decided to extend the site inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2004 as Dečani Monastery (Serbia) and place it on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The Committee also extended Andorra‘s site of Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley (Andorra), adding a buffer zone to the property that was listed in 2004. These inscriptions end ...
16.
A new website about Ireland's World Heritage properties and Ireland's Tentative List sites has just been launched.
This website contains information about Brú na Bóinne and Skellig Michael, the two Irish World Heritage sites, and the seven properties inscribed on Ireland's Tentative List. The website also includes galleries of stunning photographs of the ...
17.
The World Heritage Committee will consider requests for the inscription of 45 new sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List when it meets for its 31st session in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 23 June to 2 July.During the session, the Committee will also examine a strategy to reduce risks from disasters at World Heritage properties; the impact of climate change on World ...
18.
The French Grand Sites Network and its International Training and Exchange Centre for Francophone Heritage Sites Managers organized recently an “Exchange Workshop on management and valorization of paleo-metallurgical sites”. From the 20th to the 24th of May 2013, this workshop gathered sixteen managers of patrimonial sites and paleo-metallurgical experts of ...
19.
UNESCO is launching a call for UNESCO designated sites including Biosphere Reserves, UNESCO Global Geoparks and World Heritage sites, as well as elements of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to benefit from the capacity building support of the UNESCO Earth Network.
Earlier this month, a call for volunteer experts including young people was launched.
The programme aims at ...
20.
UNESCO has piloted an online training course on climate change adaptation and resilience in two natural World Heritage sites in Africa, with site managers from Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe / Zambia) and Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of Congo) joining. The outcome reveals the vulnerability of sites to climate change but offers options to reduce ...
21.
In the Framework of Priority Africa, UNESCO intends to empower African institutions and professionals to safeguard better and promote UNESCO World Heritage properties on the Continent.
Capacity development is, therefore, one of the hallmarks of the new Strategy for World Heritage in Africa. For that, the World Heritage Centre (WHC), in close collaboration with the African ...
22.
Finland has taken the lead in applying the Enhancing our Heritage (EoH) management effectiveness assessment toolkit to cultural World Heritage sites. Finnish representatives participated in a World Heritage Nordic Foundation regional workshop on management planning for Nordic countries in 2009 in which the EoH toolkit had been presented. They were impressed by ...
23.
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 ...
24.
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 ...
25.
Forty-eight sites will be considered for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List of outstanding cultural and natural sites during the 28th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, which will meet at the Urban Planning Convention Center in Suzhou (China) from June 28 to July 7.
UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura will address the inaugural session of the ...
26.
Kernavė Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernavė) World Heritage site has been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which held its sixth meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 14 to 16 December.
The status had also been requested for two World Heritage sites in Azerbaijan: Walled ...
27.
Istanbul, Turkey, 17 July—The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Istanbul, Turkey from 10 to 17 July with Ambassador, Director General of Cultural Affairs and Promotion Abroad of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lale Ulker as its Chairperson has inscribed 21 sites on the World Heritage List. They include 12 cultural sites, six natural and three mixed sites. The ...
28.
Marrakesh - UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting in Marrakech (Morocco) since November 29, has today included four new sites on its List of World Heritage in Danger. They are the Iguacu National Park (Brazil), the Rwenzori Mountains (Uganda), the Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the Groups of Monuments at Hampi (India). The inclusion of ...
29.
Three World Heritage sites in Cyprus and a fourth in Italy have been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which held its fifth meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 22-24 November. The sites, which are the first to be granted this status, are Choirokoitia, Paphos (sites I and II) and the ...
30.
The World Heritage Committee at its twenty-third session held in Marrakesh (Morocco) from 29 November to 4 December 1999, adopted the conclusions and recommendations of the mission of international experts sent to the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino (Mexico). The Committee endorsed the main findings of the mission's report which "concluded that the World Heritage site under ...
31.
Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino and Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California(both located in Baja California, Mexico).
The Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino site has been inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1993. It is the only calving and nursery area for the Eastern Pacific gray whale population, which traditionally travels there each season from the ...
32.
As part of an ongoing UNESCO Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF) project for “Post-fire emergency assistance for the World Heritage property of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, Uganda,” an online peer exchange was organized on 15 December 2021 by the UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa between the site management authorities of the Kasubi Tombs World Heritage site in ...
33.
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 ...
34.
A training workshop on strengthening World Heritage site management planning in Egypt took place in Luxor, Egypt, from 10 to 14 December 2023. Focusing on the site ‘Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis’ in particular, the workshop provided site managers and practitioners concerned with the management, conservation and planning of World Heritage sites in Egypt, with a global ...
35.
The Maya Site of Copán is an important archaeological site inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1980.
With the support of UNESCO, Honduras has begun a collaborative process to develop an updated management plan for the Maya Site of Copan, an important archaeological site inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1980.
This process started between May 17 and 19, ...
36.
The Belgian government has recently given its financial support to the 3rd phase of the project "Biodiversity Conservation in Regions of Armed Conflict: Conserving World Heritage sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo" with a total amount of 2 million Euros.
The five World Heritage Sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, National Parks Virunga, Kahuzi-Biega, ...
37.
Standard Chartered Bank has informed the World Heritage Centre that as part of a review and update of their environmental and social framework, it has strengthened its policy regarding World Heritage sites.
Standard Chartered has not only decided to stop financing or lending to any projects that may damage World Heritage sites, but has also stated that it will not provide ...
38.
Presentations will be made everyday at 10am, 1pm and 3pm on issues such as World Heritage destinations, sustainable tourism at World Heritage sites, the effects of tourism on the conservation of World Heritage sites, individual conservation efforts, the trade's role in site conservation, and World Heritage tours as new markets. World Heritage Site Managers will be on ...
39.
The devastating earthquakes of 25 April and the aftershocks that followed have heavily damaged the monuments and sites within the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage property, as well as an enormous amount of other cultural sites in the northwestern area of Nepal.
Currently closed to tourists and the general public, the three monument zones - Hanumandhoka (Kathmandu) Durbar ...
40.
On 13 March 2009 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the latest maps of World Heritage sites produced by the Belgian universities of Louvain (UCL) and Gand (UGent), with the financial support of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) were officially presented to the Congo Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN).
The General Director for the ...
41.
The government of Argentina has designated its 21st Wetland of International Importance, called the Humedales de Península Valdés (42,695 hectares), comprising two coastal sub-sites along the gulfs on either side of the Valdés peninsula in Patagonia, within the much larger Península Valdés World Heritage property that was inscribed in the ...
42.
Every Sunday, listeners of the French radio station France Info can learn more about UNESCO's World Heritage sites, by listening to a new chronicle entitled “Treasures of Humanity” .
Olivier Emond, a 31 years old journalist and History graduate, explains in short chronicles the history of World Heritage sites selected among the 788 that are inscribed on the World ...
43.
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 ...
44.
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 ...
45.
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 ...
46.
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 ...
47.
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 ...
48.
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 ...
49.
Monitoring World Heritage site closures
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have taken measures to restrict movements of people and access to certain areas.
This includes the closure of natural and cultural World Heritage sites in the 167 countries they are located in. Please consider the following when reviewing the statistics:
The World Heritage ...
50.
On 3 October 2017, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Republic of South Sudan submitted three heritage sites to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to be included on its first ever Tentative List of potential World Heritage sites: Sudd Wetlands (Mixed Natural/Cultural site); Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape (Natural site); and DeimZubier Slave Route Site ...
51.
On the occasion of Journees Europeennes du Patrimoine (European Heritage Days), and as part of the UNESCO-Vocations Patrimoine Fellowships programme for World Heritage managers established in January 2006, which provides fellowships to current and future managers of World Heritage sites, the Vocations Patrimoine, l'Heritage du Futur association is organizing an ...
52.
UNESCO offers its sincere solidarity with the people of Japan, and in particular the residents of Okinawa, who have lost a cultural and historical symbol of the Ryukyu islands. UNESCO stands ready to assist the authorities as needed.
In the early morning hours of 31 October, a number of buildings, including Shuri Castle of the World Heritage site of “Gusuku Sites and ...
53.
A new partnership to promote UNESCO World Heritage sites has been launched with the signing on 19 July of a Memorandum of Understanding between UNESCO and the New Zealand-based company GSP Our Place-World Heritage (GSP OP-WH Ltd). Under the partnership, GSP OP-WH Ltd and its international network of professional photographers will produce a series of books, television ...
54.
Mr John Zulu, site manager of Zambia's Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls National Park and World Heritage site arrived in the U.S. August 5th to spend six weeks immersed in the details of people, park and resource management at Grand Canyon National Park as the latest "U.S. World Heritage Fellow" sponsored by the National Park Service with support from the United Nations ...
55.
A practical guide on climate change adaptation for natural World Heritage sites has been published in the latest edition of the UNESCO World Heritage Paper Series, thanks to the generous support of the Netherlands Funds-in-Trust and the Belgian Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment.
Climate change has become more prominent as a management ...
56.
UNESCO is committed to strengthening the management of African World Heritage sites by building the capacity of African World Heritage site managers – as embodied by its newly-launched Flagship Programme on “Fostering Cultural Heritage and Capacity Development” in Africa.
In line with this Flagship Programme, the Interim Committee of the African Site Managers Network met ...
57.
World Heritage marine sites are only as effective as their compliance programs, and marine protected areas around the world struggle to combat illegal fishing. With limited resources available for surveillance and compliance, it is vital to have good systems in place to identify hotspots and track violations.
In the four Marine World Heritage sites that make up Eastern ...
58.
On 1 and 2 October 2012, a workshop took place in Nairobi, Kenya to launch the UNESCO Africa Nature Programme, which was developed following the results of the second cycle of Periodic Reporting in Africa (2010-2011).
The Africa Nature programme aims to improve the management effectiveness of the natural World Heritage sites in Africa through targeted capacity building and ...
59.
The UNESCO Lima office, through an agreement with the National Institute of Culture of Peru, is providing technical assistance for the development of heritage site management plans for the Pachacamac archeological complex and the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana. Such assistance requires the expertise of international specialists. The main objective of the ...
60.
The World Heritage Centre expresses its deep concern regarding the cargo spill off the British Coast. The MSC Napoli is grounded near Sidmouth's coastline, part of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage site, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001. The chemical containers and oil released from the ship may represent a potential environmental disaster. If ...
61.
On 2 April 2009 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris Mr Francesco Bandarin, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, signed an agreement with INRAP, the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Institut national de recherches archéologiques preventives). The Letter of Intent was signed by Mrs Nicole Pot, Director of INRAP and Mr Jean-Paul ...
62.
Thirty-seven new sites will be proposed for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List during the 30th session of the World Heritage Committee scheduled for July 8-16 in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. The President of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus; the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura; and Ina Marčiulionytė, Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee and ...
63.
The Tides of Time programme, initiated in 2008 through a partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre and the International Herald Tribune, has entered its second year.
The year began with coverage of sites such as Sian Kaan in Mexico and the Everglades in the USA. Other sites including the Atoll of Aldabra (Seychelles), Sundarbans (Bangladesh/India), Shiretoko (Japan), and the ...
64.
In April and May 2024, UNESCO and its partners organised a webinar series aimed to raise awareness of the site management authorities on the impacts of the avian influenza outbreak on wildlife in UNESCO World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Ramsar sites. The webinars were attended by nearly 700 people and financially supported by the Swiss Federal Office for ...
65.
The President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, announced on 2 March 2000 that the development of the proposed saltworks at San Ignacio would not proceed.
The decision was made following the international UNESCO expert mission to the site in August 1999. The results of the mission were presented to, and adopted by, the World Heritage Committee at its twenty-third session held in ...
66.
At a year-end strategy discussion, Shell, Earthwatch and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre evaluated the results of the first year of work under their five-year programme of collaboration to enhance the business skills of managers of World Heritage sites. During the first year, nine World Heritage site managers from three sites in South East Asia had ...
67.
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 ...
68.
On 20 September Mr Frédéric Mitterrand, Minister of Culture and Communication, Ms Chantal Jouanno, Secretary of State for Ecology and Mr Yves Dauge, President of the Association of French World Heritage Sites signed a Charter of Commitment for the Management of World Heritage sites in France.
The ceremony took place at the Ministry of Culture and ...
69.
The 30th meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Vilnius, Lithuania has been discussing the state of conservation of natural and cultural World Heritage sites. On Monday evening, delegates had the opportunity to hear about a joint IUCN and UNESCO project which is not only helping improve conservation on the ground but providing a consistent information base for ...
70.
To mark the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the UNESCOWorld Heritage Convention, Dentsu, EVERGREEN Digital Contents and NTT DOCOMO, in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, have launched a special cartoon film featuring the friendship between “Patrimonito”, the mascot of the World Heritage Education programme, and “Docomodake”, ...
71.
A new report, Ocean Science Roadmap for UNESCO Marine World Heritage, reveals that three quarters of marine World Heritage sites are unprepared for the impacts of climate change, because of a lack of scientific knowledge. The roadmap identifies critical science gaps that impede the sustainable protection of marine World Heritage sites in an uncertain future and calls for ...
72.
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 ...
73.
In June 2011 UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and Turismo de Portugal, the Portuguese Tourism Authority, signed an agreement engaging in a cooperation project on capacity-building for tourism management in World Heritage sites of Portuguese origin. This project is an integral part of the continuous cooperation that is being carried out by the World Heritage Centre and ...
74.
UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre welcomes the U.K. government's decision to reject the planning permission for the Navitus Bay Wind Park proposal offshore from the World Heritage property Dorset and East Devon Coast, often referred to as Jurassic Coast.
This decision followed a detailed application review process which took into consideration the importance of the World ...
75.
Disaster and risk are threats to World Heritage sites. The increasing impact of disasters in Africa and their growing complexity is a great concern for site managers, heritage professionals, and decision-makers. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), millions of people worldwide are affected annually by disasters arising from extreme ...
76.
Supermodel and UN Goodwill ambassador for the Environment Gisele Bundchen narrates the latest film from the World Heritage Marine Programme, which premiered at the World Parks Congress in Sydney, Australia, to a standing-room-only crowd.
Ms Bundchen is a strong supporter of ocean conservation and believes in its critical role in human and ecosystem health. She has given ...
77.
Site managers from Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal, gathered from 12 to 16 June 2023 in Toubacouta in the Saloum Delta (Senegal) to reaffirm their strong commitment to work towards the Desired State of Conservation of six West African sites to remove them from the List of World Heritage in Danger.
This important workshop was hosted by the Government of ...
78.
UNESCO and its long standing media partner EVERGREEN Digital Contents have launched a new partnership through a project aiming to promote World Heritage Education in Japan. The project focuses on raising the awareness of elementary school students about natural World Heritage sites and issues concerning them. As a part of this partnership, a new i-mode site was developed ...
79.
In an effort to improve tourism management at World Heritage sites, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre convened an expert meeting on the development of a new and innovative tool for tourism and visitor management.
Experts participating in the meeting hosted at the UNESCO HQ in Paris 15-16 January 2018 included representatives from UNESCO, the Advisory Bodies (IUCN, ICOMOS, ...
80.
From 18 to 22 October 2018, the World Heritage Centre undertook a technical mission to the Barotse Cultural Landscape, a site on the Tentative List of Zambia. The mission met with the local communities to identify suitable development projects compatible with the safeguarding of the cultural landscape, and to seek the support of the traditional custodians to nominate the ...
81.
A Capacity-Building Seminar was held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 18 to 20 October, 2017, for Managers of Eastern European sites.
The practical Capacity-building Seminar took place over two days, during which were presented three thematic lectures given by international experts from World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS, ICCROM, accompanied by three leading practical workshops and ...
82.
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 ...
83.
The World Heritage Committee will hold its 24th annual session from November 27 to December 2 in Cairns, Australia, during which it will inscribe new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List and review the List of World Heritage in Danger. The intergovernmental World Heritage Committee consists of 21 States Parties elected for a term of six years by the ...
84.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia today inscribed a natural site in the Russian Federation on the World Heritage List and has approved the Italian extension of a natural site in Switzerland.
The two sites concerned (in order of inscription)
Monte San Giorgio (Italy) (Extension of «Monte San Giorgio », Switzerland)
Monte San Giorgio is a ...
85.
Since Palestine was admitted to UNESCO on 31 October, there have been several misleading media reports about the status of Palestinian cultural heritage sites. Here is how UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee works and what it has done with respect to cultural sites in Palestine.
The World Heritage Committee inscribes sites it considers to be of “outstanding universal ...
86.
During the recent 7th Conference of the Parties for the Nairobi Convention (December 2012, Maputo, Mozambique), dedicated to "Partnering for a Healthy Western Indian Ocean", important discussions on the potential for new Marine World Heritage sites in the region were held. On the basis of these discussions, the Parties to the Nairobi Convention encouraged its Secretariat, ...
87.
UNESCO and ICOMOS visited the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro, Pakistan, in early March 2024 to monitor the restoration work and elaborate a strategy for drastic intervention in recovering from the disastrous rainfall of August 2022.
Mohenjodaro, a world-renowned Indus civilisation metropolis dating back to the third millennium BCE, began to be excavated in 1922. From ...
88.
UNESCO Sites are symbols of our work in support of sustainable development. The international community helps us ensure these sites, of outstanding universal value, function as models of heritage conservation and sustainable human living. In Ethiopia, UNESCO's work includes developing integrated management plans for sites such as Simien Mountains National Park, the Castles ...
89.
World Heritage sites and their associated museums are working with both local communities and international heritage professionals not only to preserve, but to help people maintain and reinforce their relationship to their shared cultural and natural heritage. Together they are facing threats and challenges like conflict, climate change and funding shortages.
An ...
90.
WRC Promoter, the company responsible for the promotion of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC) and European Rally Championship (ERC), has announced a commitment to safeguard natural and mixed UNESCO World Heritage sites, making it the first-ever motorsport organization to pledge its support to World Heritage. WRC Promoter will also ...
91.
The World Heritage Committee will inscribe some of the 30 sites nominated for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its forthcoming meeting in Manama under the chair of Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain from 24 June to 4 July.
The proposed additions to the World Heritage List number five natural sites, including one extension to a site already inscribed, ...
92.
Of the 33 sites nominated this year, which ones will make the cut to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status The first day of the World Heritage Committee session began this morning, from the historic 18th century Tauride Palace (also known as “Tavrichesky” Palace) in St Petersburg, Russia. Delegations from the 21 States Parties will decide, by July 6, which ...
93.
The reconstruction of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi in Uganda was launched today at a ceremony held on the World Heritage site, which was partially destroyed by fire in March 2010.The project , which is financed by Japan, is being implemented by the Ugandan Government and UNESCO.
The ceremony was attended by several government representatives including ...
94.
In 1982, UNESCO’s General Conference established 18 April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites. The Day is promoted by ICOMOS globally, and the theme for 2022 is ‘Heritage and Climate.’
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, and among the greatest threats facing cultural and natural UNESCO World Heritage monuments and sites. One in three ...
95.
The Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaikha Mai bint Mohammad Al Khalifa, has been named new Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee. She replaces the Minister of Culture of Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, who has chaired the Committee for the past 12 months.
The Committee nominated Shaikha Mai bint Mohammad Al Khalifa by acclamation on the ...
96.
Since the early 1980s, forty-three marine sites have been inscribed on the World Heritage List, covering about 1.4 million km2 of ocean surface - an area about the size of the Gulf of Mexico. Each of these forty-three sites represents exceptional features in the ocean - features that are recognized by the international community for their outstanding natural beauty, ...
97.
South Sudan ratified the World Heritage Convention in 2016 and established its first Tentative List in 2017 with three sites (one natural site, one cultural site and one mixed site). Since 2017, several capacity-building initiatives have been organized by UNESCO to support the State Party in developing its first World Heritage nomination despite the unstable political ...
98.
The World Heritage Centre in collaboration with the five field offices in the African region (Abuja, Dakar, Harare, Nairobi and Yaounde) 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 ...
99.
The International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST) under the Auspices of UNESCO is calling for case studies on best practices of digital technologies for the conservation and sustainable development of UNESCO-designated sites.
Objective
The HIST Award on Sustainable Development of UNESCO-designated sites aims at recognizing exemplary ...
100.
The more than 1,800 UNESCO designated sites around the world – World Heritage sites, biosphere reserves and UNESCO Global Geoparks – are impacted by climate change, and can play a significant role in understanding, adapting to and mitigating these impacts.
These were the key messages from the opening day of the 2nd Huangshan Dialogue, a global forum on UNESCO-designated ...
101.
Just a month after the submission of South Sudan’s first ever Tentative List of potential UNESCO World Heritage sites, UNESCO hosted a workshop on 23 November 2017 in Juba in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in order to guide the State Party in the ...
102.
On 18 July, site managers of World Heritage sites in Portugal and the Portuguese National Commission for UNESCO signed a cooperation agreement to create the Network of World Heritage Sites in Portugal. The event was hosted by the University of Coimbra (UC) and covered by UC Television Web.
Through this agreement all partners have committed to promoting cooperation between ...
103.
The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia since 25 July today finished its consideration of nominations for the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger.
Meeting under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Culture of Brazil, João Luiz da Silva Ferreira, the Committee inscribed 21 new sites, including 15 cultural, 5 ...
104.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic Corporation present the new tablet PC edition of the 2013 World Heritage calendar. Featuring stunning photographs of World Heritage sites from around the world, the tablet app joins the paper and online versions of the popular calendar.
The tablet PC app calendar also includes fun facts about World Heritage sites in English, ...
105.
Members of the Lumbini International Scientific Committee (ISC) gathered at Lumbini, Birthplace of the Lord Buddha (Nepal), a World Heritage site, from 17 to 19 February 2017, to review project activities and coordinate initiatives carried out by the Government of Nepal, development partners, and donors.
International and national experts in archaeology, conservation, ...
106.
At the invitation of the Congolese Government, the high-level meeting requested by the World Heritage Committee in 2007 (Christchurch 2007) was held with UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Congolese Prime Minister Mr Adophe Muzito in attendance.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is home to exceptional biodiversity and five World Heritage sites: the Garamba, ...
107.
Taking place in Helsingør, Denmark the meeting prepared for the launch of the first sustainable travel website for World Heritage. The initiative is co-funded by the European Union.
The World Heritage Journeys of the European Union platform showcases a selection of sites based around four thematic journeys – Romantic, Royal, Underground and Ancient Europe. Each journey ...
108.
This expert mission is part of the collaboration offered by the Director-General of UNESCO during her official visit to the World Heritage site "Historic District of the Port City of Valparaiso", which took place in May 2022.
The objective is to provide the Chilean Government and the Municipal Corporation for the Administration of the World Heritage Site with technical ...
109.
Istanbul, 10 July - The 40th session of the World Heritage Committee opened today in Istanbul (Turkey) under the chairmanship of Lale Ulker, Ambassador, Director General of Cultural Affairs and Promotion Abroad of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opening ceremony was an opportunity to stress that World Heritage, which is now, more than ever, the subject of ...
110.
The Philippines’ Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is a spectacular reef system in the famed Coral Triangle. The park encompasses 970 km² of coral atolls and deep seas 92 nautical miles from the nearest inhabited island.
Managing this vast and remote area requires a focused management plan, and the Marine World Heritage Programme recently connected Site Manager Angelique Songco ...
111.
Building materials company CEMEX has committed to staying out of World Heritage sites and to building awareness of the need to protect them, following a collaboration with UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre and IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The commitment, confirmed in the firm’s 2015 Sustainable Development Report issued this week, is in line with the ...
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Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB (Scotland, UK)
At a time of economic crisis and environmental threat, countries everywhere have to address the dual challenge of protecting and preserving their natural and cultural heritage while maximizing their economic value.
This two-day international conference on 23 and 24 November ...
113.
The Historic Town of Vigan (Philippines), inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1999, has been recognized as a model of best practices in World Heritage site management, at the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. The distinction will be officially announced and a certificate presented to the Mayor of Vigan, Ms Eva Marie S. Medina, during ...
114.
Nainoa Thompson and the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage (sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines) are embarking on a 3-year trip that will take them to 13 marine World Heritage sites. The voyage is taking place with Hōkūle'a and Hikianalia, sister canoes who are both sailing on parallel sail plans in 2015-2017.
UNESCO and the Polynesian Voyaging Society signed a partnership agreement ...
115.
Thanks to the generous financing of a Japan Funds-in-Trust project to UNESCO for ‘Technical and financial assistance for the reconstruction of Muzibu-Azaala-Mpanga, architectural masterpiece of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, Uganda, World Heritage property in Danger,’ an illustrated tour guidebook entitled ‘KASUBI: Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi Tour Guiding ...
116.
The UNESCO office in Iraq has led a rapid assessment mission to the Nimrud archaeological site, located in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq, on 14 December 2016. The objective of the mission was to assess the overall state of conservation of the site, in particular the extent of damage resulting from the deliberate destruction by ISIL/Daesh over the past 2 years. In addition, the ...
117.
In the framework of the “UNESCO Documentation and Advisory Services” (UDAS) project, UNESCO Beirut launched on 8 May 2017 a Third Consultation Workshop for “Baalbek and Tyre Archaeological Project” (BTAP). The workshop was organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) and the Council for ...
118.
Every year, on 5 May, we celebrate African World Heritage Day to honour the natural wonders and cultural legacies of Africa.
From Mbanza Kongo, capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo in Angola, to the fortress of Fasil Ghebbi in the Gondar Region of Ethiopia, cultural sites across Africa bear witness to the continent’s multifaceted history, like vibrant strands woven into ...
119.
Heavy fighting broke out again on December 3, 2007 between the DRC army and rebel forces of general Nkunda north of the city of Goma, in North Kivu. Heavy shelling and gunfire is taking place in the immediate vicinity of the heart of the gorilla sector in the Virunga National Park and World Heritage site. The renewed fighting poses a serious threat to the survival of the ...
120.
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 ...
121.
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 ...
122.
Environmental factors, lack of maintenance and uncontrollable urban developments have been cited as reasons to inscribe the Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger.
The site, comprising a group of fortifications, is a magnificent example of 17th- and 18th-century military architecture built on ...
123.
The field testing of the World Heritage Centre’s field guide for climate change adaptation in natural World Heritage sites was launched last Friday in Nairobi.
Managers from Mount Kenya National Park/National Forest and the Kenya Lakes System in the Great Rift Valley and their civil society partners gathered for a two-day introductory workshop on the field guide. The ...
124.
A UNESCO and IUCN assessment of the status of species reveals that UNESCO World Heritage sites harbour over 20% of mapped global species richness within just 1% of the Earth’s surface. Safeguarding these biodiversity hotspots is essential if the Kunming – Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is to be achieved. UNESCO is appealing to the 195 States Parties to the ...
125.
The Fourth Expert Working Group on the Preservation of the Bamiyan Site was successfully held in Kabul/ Aghanistan from 7 to 10 December 2005. Afghan and international experts working on the safeguarding of Bamiyan issued a list of concrete recommendations for further activities to preserve the site. The Expert Working Group was formed in 2002 within the framework of the ...
126.
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, today expressed her sorrow over the tragic fire that ravaged the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, a World Heritage site in Uganda, and the deaths of two people in protests that followed the blaze. She made an appeal for calm and said UNESCO stands ready to help Ugandan authorities to assess damages and plan remedial action at this ...
127.
From 15-16 April 2013, 25 experts from 4 European marine World Heritage Sites were brought together in Tönning (Germany) with the aim to strengthen their cooperation. Participants included managers from High Coast (Sweden), Kvarken Archipelago (Finland), St Kilda (Scotland) as well as from the Wadden Sea (The Netherlands/Germany). Participants engaged in an ...
128.
The report on the third regional workshop for Europe on “The Role of Visitor Centres in UNESCO Designated Sites,” held between 23 September and 2 October 2021, has been released. During online and in-presence activities, held in Ercolano, Italy, participants explored the role of visitor centres through a sustainable development lens and reflected on their potential as a ...
129.
TripAdvisor, the world's largest on-line community of travellers, and UNESCO launched a partnership on Thursday to mobilize travellers' support to preserve natural and cultural sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
At the launch of the partnership, TripAdvisor founder and Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Kaufer, pledged to donate up to US$1.5m of support over ...
130.
This year’s World Migratory Bird Day is dedicated to highlighting the problem of pollution with the theme, ‘Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution.’
Waste and pollution are harmful to many World Heritage sites. Increased tourism means that more people are leaving trash at the world’s most iconic places. World Heritage sites are key stopover sites for birds, so ...
131.
12 October 2024 - For the first time this year, the theme of the World Migratory Bird Day highlights the importance of insects for migratory birds, and calls more action to protect decreasing populations of insects.
Insects are vital energy sources for many bird species during the breeding season and their migration. They significantly affect the timing, duration, and ...
132.
As part of the "World Heritage Eco Learning Program", Panasonic hosted, from June 26th to 28th, the "Environmental activity for the next generation” at the Ogasawara Islands - a UNESCO World Heritage site.
During the event, Japanese children from Ogasawara Elementary School and Ogasawara Lions Club, recorded videos in collaboration with "Kids Witness News", a global ...
133.
The news of a massive toxic spill that occurred 4 October 2010 at an aluminum plant in Hungary has caused great concern in the international community. We deeply deplore the impact of this disaster, especially the loss of lives.
The flood reached the Danube River from the Raab River on 7 October 2010, and while pH levels are diminishing, heavy metals and other substances ...
134.
Participants to the 4th annual World Heritage Centre / Earthwatch / Shell "Business Planning for natural World Heritage site managers" year long training programme have just been informed of their successful candidacies. In October 2012, 18 World Heritage site staff from 6 sites in Africa will travel to the Mpala Research Centre in the shadow of ...
135.
Cambodia’s celebrated temples and palaces at Angkor were removed from UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger today, as were the Bahla Fort (Oman) and Rwenzori Mountains National Park (Uganda).
As it reviewed the state of conservation of World Heritage sites whose outstanding universal value is severely threatened, the 21-member World Heritage Committee meeting in ...
136.
Representatives from the national, regional and local authorities led by Spain's Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Ambassador María Jesús San Segundo, met Francesco Bandarin, Director of the World Heritage Centre, on 8 October to discuss the conservation of the World Heritage property of "Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture".
The meeting focused on preparations of a ...
137.
World heritage site managers and tourism stakeholders from Zambia and Zimbabwe came together for the first time to initiate the process to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls World Heritage site. The workshop was held in Livingstone, Zambia from 22 to 24 January 2015.
The workshop takes place within the framework of the UNESCO World ...
138.
Barclays has announced their first public policy that will prevent the bank from financing projects in World Heritage sites and Ramsar Wetlands, following WWF’s call for the world’s banks to stop financing damaging activities in the planet’s most precious places.Despite being awarded the highest levels of protection by the United Nations, almost half of all natural and ...
139.
Two UNESCO World Heritage marine sites with similar conservation challenges signed an official Partnership Agreement to share ideas and best practices. The seeds of the agreement were sown at the 2010 World Heritage marine managers conference, and site-to-site exchanges over the past years were also central in achieving the recent zero emissions target for West Norwegian ...
140.
Every year on 18 April, ICOMOS celebrates the “International Day for Monuments and Sites”, whose establishment was approved by the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983.
ICOMOS wishes to dedicate the 2016 International Day for Monuments and Sites to the heritage of sports, since sports have developed from the origin of humankind onwards and have left testimonies to the ...
141.
From 8 to 13 September 2024, the Peninsula Valdes marine World Heritage property in Argentina hosted the inaugural Regional meeting of UNESCO World Heritage marine site managers from Latin America and the Caribbean. The event brought together managers from the 12 UNESCO World Heritage marine sites in the region, alongside experts from UNESCO and the International Union for ...
142.
The 7th Extraordinary Session of the World Heritage Committee opened on 6 December 2004 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, under the chairmanship of Mr Themba P. Wakashe from South Africa. The session will last until 11 December 2004.
This important meeting will examine, among other items, the relations between the Convention for the protection of the World Cultural and ...
143.
UNESCO, with its unique mandate in Earth Sciences, plays a vital role in promoting a sustainable world, with geoscience at the core of its mission. A workshop on geoheritage management in UNESCO designated sites will be held on 19 - 22 October 2023 for personnel working with current or aspiring natural UNESCO designated sites.
A call for applications is now open until 13 ...
144.
Bangladesh was struck by a powerful cyclone on November 15 which left more than 3,000 people dead and millions without shelter. While a major international relief effort is currently underway to respond Cyclone Sidr's devastating impact on life and property, UNESCO's World Heritage Centre also sent a team to the Sundarbans World Heritage site, which was badly hit ...
145.
Recent policy and conceptual developments in World Heritage, and in conservation generally, set the stage for new approaches that engage indigenous and local communities in World Heritage. The inclusion of communities as one of the five Strategic Objectives in the World Heritage Convention reflects an increasing demand for community engagement at all stages of the World ...
146.
The Solomon Islands host a chain of coral atolls in the western Pacific, about 1800 kilometers northeast of Australia. The southernmost island in the group is Rennell Island. At 86 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, Rennell is the largest raised coral atoll in the world. East Rennell, on the southern end of Rennell Island, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in ...
147.
The World Heritage Committee on Monday adopted the recommendations on ways to respond to the threat of climate change to many World Heritage sites such as Mount Everest (Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal), Australia's Great Barrier Reef and Venice (Italy)."This is the start of a long process, which is important in that it helps draw attention to a far reaching issue," ...
148.
The 5th edition of the World Heritage Site Managers’ Forum (WHSMF23) will be organised in conjunction with the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, with the theme selected for the Forum “Managing World Heritage for the Next 50 Years.” It is hosted by the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the National Committee and the ...
149.
Five young heritage professionals from around the world received UNESCO-Vocations Patrimoine fellowships to pursue post graduate research at University College Dublin (Ireland) and at the Brandenburg Technical University of Cottbus (Germany). The aim of the fellowships is to help prepare site managers to handle the growing threats to which World Heritage sites - 851 sites ...
150.
Managers from 46 marine World Heritage sites will meet in Ajaccio, Corsica, from October 18-20, for the second World Heritage Marine Site Managers’ conference.
The World Heritage Convention was founded in 1972 on the premise that certain places on our planet – cultural or natural -- should be recognized as having “outstanding universal value” and ...
151.
Last month, the Marine World Heritage Programme traveled to Norway to facilitate an exchange between the West Norwegian Fjords - Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord and Glacier Bay National Park.
These two marine World Heritage sites share a challenge and an opportunity: both are popular cruise ship destinations and are threatened by pollution from tourism traffic. In Glacier ...
152.
"Heritage, World Heritage and the Future: Perspectives on Scale, Conservation and Dialogue”
The 14th International Anamed Symposium in cooperation with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre held on 5-6 December at ANAMED, Koc University in Istanbul produced important outcomes for archaeological World Heritage sites.
The challenges affecting the conservation mechanism as well as ...
153.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre, in partnership with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and in collaboration with the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA) and the Ministry of Arts and Culture of Mauritius, is organising a month-long field training project on risk management at World Heritage sites from the 19 August 2013 to 13 September 2013 at the ...
154.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is closely monitoring the state of conservation of the World Heritage site of Venice and its Lagoon.
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987, Venice faces several threats from overtourism, damage caused by a steady stream of cruise ships, and from the potential negative effects of new developments. The site is also highly vulnerable ...
155.
From 7 to 9 November 2011, experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) undertook an advisory mission to examine development projects affecting the World Heritage site "Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Sevilla", inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1987.
At its three last sessions, the World Heritage Committee discussed ...
156.
The government of Montenegro, Serbia and Montenegro, has cancelled a project to build a dam that would flood part of the Tara River Canyon in the buffering UNESCO Biosphere Reserve next to Durmitor National Park, a World Heritage site inscribed in 1980. The decision comes as the result of meetings that UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura had with the Presidents of ...
157.
The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, has written to Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and to Jean-Marie Guehenno, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, asking for measures to stop the poaching and killing of endangered animals in the five World Heritage sites of the DRC.
The ...
158.
UNESCO has announced the renewal of its partnership agreement with OUR PLACE Publishing Ltd. The New Zealand-based company will continue its mission to photograph and promote the sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Our Place has been documenting World Heritage sites around the globe since first partnering with UNESCO in 2007. So far, Our Place has documented over ...
159.
Using its revolutionary 360-degree panoramic underwater camera, the Catlin Seaview Survey aims at revealing the hidden wonders of our oceans. This technology will for the first time provide a comprehensive snapshot of the exceptional values of marine sites on the World Heritage List.
Through its dive expeditions, the survey captures stunning imagery every few seconds ...
160.
The initiative aims to enhance the cultural, social, economic, and environmental value of the site and its integration with the Sustainable Development Goals.
In an effort to empower the local community in the management and protection of the Maya Site of Copán, UNESCO has conducted an update workshop for the management plan. This workshop is an integral part of the ...
161.
Krakow, Poland, 12 July—The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Krakow since 2 July, closed its annual session today. During the session, the Committee inscribed 21 new sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It also extended or modified the boundaries of five sites already on the List.
The new inscriptions bring to 1,073 the total number of sites on the World Heritage ...
162.
Paris, France – From 27-31 August 2016, managers from the 49 marine sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List will convene in the Galapagos Islands to explore solutions to some of the world’s most pressing conservation challenges including climate adaptation strategies and market-based approaches to strengthen sustainable fisheries. Along with leading experts and ocean ...
163.
For decades, UNESCO has worked to protect cultural and natural treasures on land and sea by facilitating cooperation across borders. World Heritage is built on the premise that some places are so special that all of humankind should work together to protect them.
This spirit of international cooperation has been evident among World Heritage marine sites in the Eastern ...
164.
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 ...
165.
COVID-19 has impacted all sectors and all regions, and the world’s over 1,000 UNESCO World Heritage properties are no exception.
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on World Heritage one year after the start of the pandemic, UNESCO launched a far-reaching survey of site managers and national authorities and have published the results in the report ‘World Heritage in the ...
166.
The World Heritage Committee will consider requests for the inscription of new sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List when it meets for its 32nd session in Québec, Canada, from 2 to 10 July.
During this year’s session, hosted by Canada to coincide with the 400th anniversary celebration of the founding of Québec City, 41 States Parties to the World ...
167.
Online images of World Heritage sites, an outdoor exhibit and a new book project are among the most recent developments of the partnership between the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Our Place, the World's Heritage Ltd, launched in July 2006.
Our Place is the first collection of World Heritage photographs developed in partnership with the World Heritage Centre. It ...
168.
The Sacred City of Caral-Supe (Peru), the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas, was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee, chaired by María Jesús San Segundo, the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Spain to UNESCO. The Committee also added the historic centre of the town of Levoča to the Slovak World ...
169.
With the financial support of the World Heritage Fund, as well as national organizers of India, the final of a series of "Itinerant Workshops on the Conservation and Management of Persian, Timurid and Mughal Architecture", has successfully taken place in Delhi and Agra, from 6 to 12 April 2009 in India. It was jointly organized by the World Heritage Centre, the ...
170.
Participants to the 5th annual World Heritage Centre / Earthwatch / Shell "Business Planning for natural World Heritage site managers" year long training programme have just been informed of their successful candidacies. In October 2013, 18 World Heritage site staff from 6 sites in Africa will travel to the Mpala Research Centre in the shadow of ...
171.
Sites of outstanding universal value inscribed on the World Heritage List - the Palace of Versailles in France, the historic centre of Prague in the Czech Republic and the old town of Cáceres in Spain, for example - can now be explored online by internet users around the world, thanks to an alliance signed by UNESCO and the international corporation Google.The agreement ...
172.
Professionals from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are the beneficiaries of the sub-regional workshop on “Managing Disaster Risks in UNESCO Designated Sites” that will take place in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 10-13 October 2016. The event is organised by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Venice (Italy), in support of the ...
173.
On 5 December 2024, managers from the 51 UNESCO World Heritage marine sites convened online with experts from UNESCO and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to share best practices in managing tourism sustainably across the globe.
Tourism and UNESCO World Heritage marine sites are deeply interconnected, as these flagship marine protected areas ...
174.
Experts from UNESCO's World Heritage Centre and the International Council of Monuments and Sites will arrive in Pompei on 2 December to examine the state of conservation of the World Heritage site. The mission follows the destruction in early November of the Schola Armaturarum and further collapses yesterday and today, including that of a wall at the House of the ...
175.
In June 2011, Jaeger-LeCoultre, the International Herald Tribune and UNESCO's World Heritage Centre agreed to renew their longstanding 'Tides of Time' partnership in support of the World Heritage Marine Programme until 2014.
The partnership began in 2008 as an international communication campaign in the online and print editions of the International Herald Tribune. Each ...
176.
The World Heritage site of East Rennell has been inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to logging that is affecting the ecosystem of the Solomon Islands’ World Heritage site.
The World Heritage Committee determined that logging is threatening the outstanding universal value of East Rennell, and asked the national authorities to ...
177.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic Corporation have released the 2014 World Heritage calendar. Featuring stunning photographs of World Heritage sites from around the world, this popular calendar can be used in paper, online and tablet app versions.
UNESCO and Panasonic have been creating wall calendars since 1995 and a web version since 2010. The wall calendar ...
178.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Panasonic Corporation have released the 2015 World Heritage calendar. Featuring stunning photographs of World Heritage sites from around the world, this popular calendar can be used in paper, online and tablet app versions.
UNESCO and Panasonic have been creating wall calendars since 1995 and a web version since 2010. The wall calendar ...
179.
Marrakesh - The 23rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Marrakesh, Morocco, was informed today that the United Nations Foundation (UNF) would contribute $2.9 million to World Heritage sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project, "Biodiversity Conservation in Regions of Armed Conflict: Protecting World Natural Heritage in the Democratic Republic of ...
180.
Blog post by Director of World Heritage at UNESCO - Lazare Eloundou AssomoIs there a place you have never been, but always felt a special connection to From Peru’s Machu Picchu to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, these wonders of the world are as diverse as they come. But they have one thing in ...
181.
The World Heritage Centre launched today the Arabic translation of the publication “Managing effectively the world’s most iconic Marine Protected Areas. A Best Practice Guide”. There are currently three World Heritage marine sites in the Arab region, in Mauritania, Sudan and Yemen.
Download Now
The publication lays the groundwork for a common approach to a more pro-active, ...
182.
The final report of the 4th regional workshop on the Role of Visitor Centres in UNESCO Designated Sites has been released online. It provides insight from participants on fostering tourism sustainability and effective visitor management. The workshop, held in Buzau in November, brought together managers from 22 UNESCO sites across 16 European countries, offering a platform ...
183.
The web site for one of the World Heritage Advisory Bodies, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), regularly updates news on IUCN's work on protected areas.
Recent features include:
Guidelines for Planning and Managing Mountain Protected Areas;
A mission to the Volcanoes of Kamchatka World Heritage Site in the Russian Federation;
Establishment of a Global network on ...
184.
Two World Heritage sites in Azerbaijan and three in Belgium have been given "enhanced protection" status by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which held its eighth meeting at UNESCO Headquarters from 18-19 December 2013. The properties, which have been granted this status, are the Walled City of Baku with the ...
185.
UNESCO is deeply concerned about recent reports of military activities on the Island of Meroe, in Sudan, whose archaeological sites are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Organization calls on parties not to target or use these sites for military purposes.
The Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe, a semi-desert landscape between the Nile and Atbara ...
186.
On 14 February 2023, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre organized the second Coordination Group meeting on ‘Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites’, a project funded by the government of Japan through the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust.
Subsequent to the project’s launch in ...
187.
A highly anticipated inception workshop titled "Heritage for Peace: Enhancing Transboundary and Regional Cooperation for Natural and Mixed World Heritage Sites in Asia" was successfully held on 6 July 2023, in an online format. This experts’ workshop marked a crucial step towards promoting transboundary conservation efforts and unlocking the immense potential of Asia's ...
188.
Paris - The Web site of the 27th session of the World Heritage Committee, which will take place in Suzhou (China), from the 29th of June to the 5th of July 2003, is now online at this address: http://www.27whc.org. The Web site is available in Chinese and English versions (French to come) and provides numerous useful information about the forthcoming session of the ...
189.
On their return from a technical rapid assessment mission to the Palmyra yesterday, UNESCO’s experts presented their preliminary findings regarding damages to the Syrian Arab Republic World Heritage site.
Headed by the Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre, the mission, from 24 to 26 April inspected both Palmyra’s museum and archaeological site. The mission was ...
190.
From 23-25 June 2016, UNESCO brought together site managers from natural and cultural heritage sites in Tanzania, which are recognized as World Heritage and/or Man and Biosphere Reserves (MAB), community representatives, private partners and national authorities for a workshop to raise capacities in planning and writing project proposals. A total of 35 participants ...
191.
The World Heritage Committee, meeting in Manama since 24 June under the chair of Shaikha Haya Bint Rashed al-Khalifa of Bahrain, inscribed two cultural sites in Germany and Turkey as well as two mixed (i.e. both cultural and natural) sites in Canada and Colombia, on the World Heritage List this afternoon. The inscription of sites will continue on 2 July.
The new World ...
192.
Echoing the call of UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, the World Heritage Committee has established a Special Fund to support Mali’s efforts to safeguard the World Heritage properties affected by the armed conflict in the north of the country, notably the sites of Timbuktu and the Tomb of Askia in Gao.
The Fund will support the Government of Mali in assessing ...
193.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, Eastern National and the National Park Service’s Office of International Affairs have produced the new booklet "World Heritage Sites in the United States". The booklet highlights the 21 sites in the United States that have been selected and inscribed on the World Heritage List for their natural ...
194.
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 ...
195.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea had its first site inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List today with the addition of a complex of Koguryo tombs. Andorra also entered the List with the cultural landscape of Madriu-Claror-Perafita Valley. They were among 13 cultural sites listed in Suzhou today.
Below are the new sites inscribed on July 1 at the World Heritage ...
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World Heritage forests: Carbon sinks under pressure, a report by UNESCO, World Resources Institute (WRI) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released today, provides the first global scientific assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration by forests in UNESCO World Heritage sites.
It reveals that despite substantial carbon stored and ...
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In order to avoid any damaging confusion, UNESCO wishes to reaffirm that there is no link whatsoever between UNESCO's World Heritage programme, which aims to protect world heritage, and the current campaign concerning "The New 7 Wonders of the World". This campaign was launched in 2000 as a private initiative by Bernard Weber, the idea being to encourage citizens ...
198.
The World Heritage Committee has decided that improvements in the preservation of the Everglades National Park (Florida, USA) and Rio Plátano Biosphere Reserve (Honduras) were sufficient to remove both UNESCO World Heritage site from the List of World Heritage in Danger.The Committee commended the United States of America for its investment of scientific and financial ...
199.
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 ...
200.
A study commissioned by the World Heritage Centre reviews the total carbon stored in trees, leaves forest litter and soil for all 106 World Heritage forest sites. Carried out by Mr. Devendra Pandey, the former Director General of the Indian Forest Survey, the study is the first to look specifically at World Heritage forests sites, combining information from different ...