2400 news
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Following the official launch of the project “ Supporting capacity-building of World Heritage sites in East Africa (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania)” supported by the Sultanate of Oman, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) organized the first consultation meetings with concerned national institutions and partners of the five beneficiary countries, from 27 ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 8 June 2021
World Oceans Day
How Marine World Heritage builds resilience for people and nature
Spread across 37 nations from the tropics to the poles, the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are among the ocean’s most productive waters. Their abundance of marine life is vital to sustain the livelihoods of indigenous communities, local businesses and artists alike.
This year’s United ...
2 min read
Friday, 4 June 2021
This year’s World Environment Day will launch and focus on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a global rallying cry to heal our planet.
Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet - and its people. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
The German Commission for UNESCO herewith invites UNESCO World Heritage sites and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Africa to submit proposals for projects that help them to overcome an existing impairment caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Up to 20,000 Euro financial support will be provided to selected projects.
By providing financial and technical support to UNESCO World Heritage sites and ...
7 min read
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released the first set of data for Indicator 11.4.1 related to culture for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda 2030. The results and analysis are available in a new report, Tracking Investment to Safeguard the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Indicator 11.4.1 is defined as “total per capita expenditure on the preservation, ...
3 min read
Monday, 31 May 2021
UNESCO is now compensating for all greenhouse gas emissions caused by in-house and outsourced printing services at Headquarters (HQ). To make our print publications ‘carbon neutral’, UNESCO has chosen to support the development of a small scale hydropower project near Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
While UNESCO is striving to reduce ...
3 min read
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
