Search

World Heritage sites require an enormous number of resources for their protection. Conservation needs are met in different ways by governments, vibrant communities, or donors of many types. But increasingly the private sector is taking action with a powerful impact on conservation and management. Natural sites especially are impacted by industrial activities, and ‘no-go’ ...

The World Heritage Convention arose from the need to identify and protect outstanding natural and cultural sites for future generations. Over time, the effectiveness of the Convention has led to an increasing number of sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, resulting in not only a List including a great variety and number of places around the world, but an awareness ...

At some time during the past one hundred years or so, the great, multimillennial tradition of earthen architecture, which even today is a dominant technique in every world civilization, fell victim to the Modern Ideal. Being ‘modern’, some thought, meant eating, clothing and housing oneself as one did in the industrial world. If some lived and worked in ...

Spain, with its long, complex history and the global character of its territorial and cultural extension, remains marked by a striking diversity of historical influences and regional differences, and it justifiably prides itself on the forty Spanish sites currently inscribed on the World Heritage List. Together, they represent a broad range of categories: religious, ...

The year 2020 began with an unprecedented health crisis that has affected each one of us, and we still cannot predict its long-term effects. Not only have we been touched in our personal lives. Lockdown has perturbed our work, our communities and our industries, at times with devastating consequences. And this crisis is not yet over.  Inevitably, our World Heritage sites ...

This issue of World Heritage is devoted to a number of truly extraordinary World Heritage sites that allow a better understanding of the history of the Earth and the formation of landscape. It is no surprise that UNESCO has acknowledged this diversity as the basis of the International Year of Planet Earth, a celebration that concludes in 2009. Representatives of two of the ...

Observing heritage sites from space for the sake of preservation has a long history. In the early 1920s, scientists were already using aerial photographs to map archaeological sites and to help detect changes not visible from the ground, such as buried roads and other remains. In 1972, the World Heritage Convention was adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference, and that same ...

It is a great pleasure for me to share this 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention celebration with you. Over the past five decades, the World Heritage Convention has protected and promoted humanity’s treasures and transformed the way we value and safeguard heritage. In this issue we look at a few key sites that have marked turning points for the Convention, ...

This special issue is devoted entirely to World Heritage sites belonging to members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. It thus offers a unique opportunity to discover the rich cultural and natural heritage of a region that embraces Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia (all three of which already have sites inscribed on the World Heritage List), as well ...

Special Issue - South Africa Message from Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO uKhahlamba/Drakensberg Park, Protecting 'the Roof of Africa' World Heritage on the African Continent. A brief overview Mapungubwe National Park.Reinstating national pride and identity interview with the Chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, Mr Themba P. Wakashe Robben ...

This year, for its 42nd session, the World Heritage Committee is hosted by Bahrain in its capital city of Manama. Bahrain has long dedicated its support to the World Heritage Convention, and already chaired the Committee for its 35th session in 2011, at UNESCO Headquarters. Bahrain is also home to the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, a Category 2 Centre working ...

Each issue of the World Heritage magazine goes beyond a visual account of cultural and natural sites: it invites readers to understand their significance and their uniqueness and to take action for their long-term protection. Through its articles, images and testimonies, the magazine embodies UNESCO’s commitment to making World Heritage a lever for resilience, ...

Special issue on World Heritage sites in New Zealand, at the occasion of the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee held from 23 June to 2 July in Christchurch, New Zealand. Special Issue Message from UNESCO Director-General Mr Koichiro Matsuura (p.4) An Interview with Mr Tumu te Heuheu, Paramount Chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa Māori Tribe and Chair of the 31st ...

The annual session of the World Heritage Committee is a crucial period for the Convention, and we are grateful to Germany for hosting us this year. The 39th session of the Committee is taking place as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of UNESCO, marking its accomplishments thus far and defining the way forward in the years to come. At the 39th session, the first annual ...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are islands of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. The UNESCO World Heritage Programme for Small Island Developing States coordinates and develops activities in these areas, providing support for the preparation of new nominations to the World Heritage List, and conservation and management assistance for ...

The World Heritage Convention was created in 1972 – nearly half a century ago – as a legal instrument to protect our most outstanding cultural and natural sites around the world. It has been adopted since by 194 countries, nearing universality. Concretely, the World Heritage Convention is implemented in myriad ways, big and small, by people around the world. In this issue, ...

Forests, like mountains and oceans, play a critical role in the balance of world climate (as well as in vital carbon capture and retention) and thus in the survival of our species, hence the United Nations’ decision to designate 2011 as the International Year of Forests. This event in fact coincides with the tenth anniversary of the World Heritage Forest Programme and ...

Water: its role in human evolution. World Heritage sites offer a wide spectrum of water elements, from glorious water gardens to spectacular aqueducts, grand transport canals to ingenious water mills. This display of human creativity and ingenuity reveals the brilliance of our common heritage and the potential for future technological advances. By gaining a deeper ...

It is a great pleasure to meet for this extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee to be held from 16 to 31 July 2021 in Fuzhou, China and online. As China is home to a prodigious array of stunning natural sites and ancient cultural sites – from the iconic Great Wall and the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries to the Silk Roads and the amazing round buildings of the ...

Agricultural landscapes are a testimony to humanity’s long interaction with the land, often unique examples of people and nature coexisting and influencing each other. They demonstrate a rich cultural and landscape diversity, sustainable land-use systems and in some cases people’s daily struggle for survival under extreme climatic and environmental conditions. The ...