Cultural heritage, education and youth: UNESCO and the European Union launch a new project
Friday, 21 December 2018
Nominations are now open, with the deadline for submission 30 April 2019.
The Prize rewards outstanding action to safeguard and enhance the world’s major cultural landscapes, which can contribute significantly to sustainable development and achieve a number of goals set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The prizewinner, who may be an individual, an institution or a ...
Towards a World Heritage Policy Compendium – Third Meeting of Experts takes place at UNESCO Headquarters
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
Under the high patronage of H.E. Abdulaziz bin Mohamed Al-Rowas, Advisor for Cultural Affairs to His Majesty the Sultan of Oman, some 30 experts gathered in Salalah, Oman, from 3 to 5 December 2018, to discuss the future of the World Heritage property “Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley” and to enhance cooperation between relevant stakeholders.
Financially ...
Legal experts gather in Monaco to explore World Heritage beyond national jurisdiction
Friday, 14 December 2018
Sustainable tourism workshop for World Heritage Journeys: Buddha project
Thursday, 13 December 2018
In response to recent reports that Tanzania granted a contract for the construction of a dam within the Selous Game Reserve World Heritage property to two Egyptian companies, the Director of the World Heritage Centre reminded the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania of its obligations as signatory to the 1972 World Heritage Convention.
Upon the inscription of Selous Game Reserve on ...
A new UNESCO project funded by the Government of The Netherlands is supporting Eritrea’s efforts to strengthen the conservation and management of Asmara: A Modernist African City World Heritage property using the UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape Approach.
Eritrea’s capital city Asmara was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017 as “an exceptional example of early modernist ...
UNESCO bolsters global efforts at UN Biodiversity Conference
Monday, 3 December 2018
The World Heritage Convention at the heart of biodiversity conservation in the Congo Basin
Friday, 30 November 2018
From 26 to 30 November 2018, a high-level delegation from Belize is visiting Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to exchange best practices on leveraging their reef’s iconic World Heritage status, to protect their fragile ecosystems from climate impacts and secure sustainable livelihoods, jobs and income for local communities. The visit follows a series of landmark conservation actions that led to ...
World Heritage National Focal Points of the Arab States Region meet for Periodic Reporting Workshop
Thursday, 29 November 2018
African universities supporting the safeguarding of World Heritage
Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Wadden Sea holds first expert meeting to discuss marine litter at World Heritage sites
Monday, 19 November 2018
World Heritage Volunteers 2019 – Call for Projects
Monday, 19 November 2018
The World Heritage Centre received today a visit from a delegation of representatives from the Arhuaco indigenous community of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, included on Colombia’s Tentative List since 2012 as a potential mixed World Heritage property.
The representatives met with the Director and the team of the Latin American and Caribbean Unit of the World Heritage Centre to discuss ...
World Heritage, Museums and Creative economy: alliance for greater benefit sharing
Thursday, 15 November 2018
“Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia” is a jewel in the Pacific that has inspired many stories and myths. There are more than 100 islets at the site, constructed with walls of basalt and coral boulders, upon which were built structures with walls up to eight meters high of columnar basalt that glistens in the sun. These ruins represent the ceremonial center of the Saudeleur ...
Addis Ababa, 5 November 2018: The Director of UNESCO Liaison Office to AU and UN ECA, and Representative to Ethiopia, Ms Ana Elisa Santana Afonso met with a delegation of the Orthodox Tewahido Church of Lalibela, led by His Holiness Aba Tsige Selassie, Head Administrator of the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela. Begun in the 12th century, this complex of 11 churches was among the first cultural ...
Severe erosion threatens the shrines of Barotse Cultural Landscape
Friday, 9 November 2018
On 5 November 2018, a team of experts from the World Heritage Centre and IUCN arrived in Montenegro for a joint Advisory mission to the World Heritage property “Durmitor National Park.”
The State Party of Montenegro invited the mission with the objectives to review a potential boundary modification and to assess the overall state of conservation of the World Heritage site. The mission ...
XII National meeting of World Heritage Site Managers in Coruña, Spain
Tuesday, 6 November 2018
Qhapaq Ñan countries continue collaboration with more workshops
Friday, 2 November 2018
Experts convene at UNESCO on future of culture and tourism at EU-China Conference
Friday, 2 November 2018
UNESCO condemns the intentional destruction of the Ahmed Al-Faz Mosque and Mausoleum in Hodeida, located on the coast approximately 30km from the World Heritage property of the Historic Town of Zabid. The General Organization of Antiquities and Museums (GOAM) in Yemen confirmed, in a statement published on 23 October, that the building was destroyed by extremists on the previous day.
The ...
For the first time, UNESCO World Heritage coral reef managers will partner with global climate resilience experts and local community stakeholders to build and embed comprehensive resilience strategies into their management of World Heritage sites.
The project builds on the capacity of reef managers to work locally and enables a global network of flagship protected area managers to create ...
Communities and reinforcement of the management of the Royal Palaces of Abomey (Benin)
Thursday, 25 October 2018
Management Strategies developed for Silk Roads Corridors in Central Asia: Phase II
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
In Memoriam: David Lowenthal, historian and geographer (1923-2018)
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
Every year, disasters caused by natural hazards affect millions of people around the world. The resultant human losses are tragic and highlight the vulnerabilities shared by our societies.
Recent events have illustrated the devastating effects of natural disasters. The State of Kerala in India, for example, experienced in August the worst episode of flooding since 1924. Many hundreds of ...
Strengthening marine World Heritage in Sudan through South-South cooperation
Friday, 12 October 2018
The first China/Germany Cultural Exchange on Heritage Conservation for Sustainable Development, organized at the initiative of UNESCO, took place on 26-30 September 2018 in Berlin, Germany, and gathered international experts and stakeholders for an international reflection session on the role of culture as a vector of sustainable development on the international stage, today and in the ...
The Democratic Republic of Congo Mobilized for the Protection Endangered Animal Species
Thursday, 11 October 2018
World Tourism Day 2018: protecting World Heritage
Thursday, 27 September 2018
Biodiversity and Culture Conventions Meet at UNESCO
Wednesday, 26 September 2018
Reactive Monitoring mission to “Białowieża Forest” (Belarus/Poland)
Monday, 24 September 2018
The Arab States region starts the Third Cycle of the Periodic Reporting exercise
Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Guidebook for urban and architectural regulation of Cidade Velha
Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Today, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre released an update to its 2017 first global scientific assessment of the impact of climate change on UNESCO World Heritage coral reefs. The latest update concludes that limiting global temperatures to 1.5°C degrees above pre-industrial levels would mean World Heritage-listed coral reefs are expected to avoid severe annual bleaching this century. ...
UNESCO launches new travel platform ‘World Heritage Journeys’ to promote sustainable tourism in the EU
Thursday, 13 September 2018
In memoriam: Dr Henry Forrester Cleere (1926-2018)
Thursday, 6 September 2018
UNESCO celebrates 70 years of nature conservation with IUCN
Tuesday, 4 September 2018
Category II Centre “Lucio Costa” in Brazil adopts Work Plan 2018-2020 for World Heritage
Friday, 31 August 2018
Over the last several months, the World Heritage Centre has been receiving numerous messages from citizens from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as from other countries, expressing their concern regarding the ‘Proposed Scheme’ for the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down project, located within the boundaries of the World Heritage site “Stonehenge, Avebury and ...
On the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, in the western part of the island of Saint-Domingue, then French colony of the West Indies, an uprising of slaves took place, which would mark a turning point in the tragic history of the slave trade. The war that ensued culminated in 1804 in the independence of that part of the island, which took the name of Haiti, and led to the recognition of the equal ...
This year, International Youth Day focuses on the theme: "Safe spaces for youth".
Youth is a decisive phase in personal development. It is the age when people venture into the unknown, seeking new horizons; it is a time of encounters, often memorable ones; it is a time of first commitments. However, youth is also a vulnerable age, when negative experiences can quickly lead to withdrawal, ...
Indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable populations in the world. This International Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness of their precarious situation, particularly in relation to migration, which is the Day's theme in 2018.
Migration influences the way of life of many indigenous peoples, whether these be nomadic pastoral societies who follow the transhumance calendar, ...
World Heritage Beech Forests Conference held in Vienna
Monday, 6 August 2018
UN chief pays tribute to Hiroshima victims and renews call for nuclear disarmament
Monday, 6 August 2018
State of Conservation of Lake Baikal
Friday, 3 August 2018
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has issued the statement below following news of the death of French architect and heritage conservation expert Pierre-André Lablaude:
“Pierre-André Lablaude leaves behind him an immense body of work, including a remarkable contribution to the safeguarding and restoration of UNESCO's World Heritage, for which I wish to express our Organization’s ...
In the part years, interest in rural areas, small settlements, and the fine-tuned interaction between humankind and its natural environment, has exponentially grown in China and all around the world.The critical role played by villages, small towns, and their vast surrounding environment is gaining global acknowledgment as a complementary counterpart to growing cities. However, today these ...
Over the last several weeks, the World Heritage Centre has received numerous messages from citizens expressing their concerns regarding a car park project within the World Heritage property “Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th Centuries: Stato da Terra – Western Stato da Mar”, and the adverse impact it may have on the serial property. The concerned area is located within the ...
The World Heritage Centre has launched an Online Consultation with key World Heritage stakeholders on the Reactive Monitoring process. The consultation, which is taking place until 14 September 2018, will gather feedback and comments from key World Heritage stakeholders on this crucial process of the World Heritage Convention.
This inclusive online consultation invites States Parties to ...
Biodiversity secretariats meet in New York on Sustainable Development
Friday, 20 July 2018
A side event dedicated to the ‘Making of’ the draft Policy Compendium was held during the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee in Manama, Bahrain (24 June – 4 July 2018). During the event, a panel composed of experts from the Policy Compendium Working Group and representatives of the World Heritage Centre presented their work to date on the draft Policy Compendium.
The presentation ...
The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH) and ICOMOS International in collaboration with ICCROM and IUCN, are organizing a Capacity Building programme for World Heritage Professionals in the Arab Region. This programme aims to build a strong network of experts from the Arab Region that will assist the Arab States, the Advisory Bodies, and all World Heritage stakeholders in the ...
Azerbaijan to host 2019 session of World Heritage Committee
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
Managers of French World Heritage sites meet at Mining Basin
Tuesday, 10 July 2018
In Memoriam: Dr Janice Lindsay
Monday, 9 July 2018
World Heritage Committee has inscribed a total of 19 sites
Wednesday, 4 July 2018
World’s insurers launch commitment to protect World Heritage Sites
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
Patrimonito’s World Heritage Adventures: a new episode available
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
Four sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Monday, 2 July 2018
Reconstruction and recovery in Iraq: Reviving the Spirit of Mosul
Sunday, 1 July 2018
Two sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Sunday, 1 July 2018
Four sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Sunday, 1 July 2018
Four sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Saturday, 30 June 2018
Two sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List
Saturday, 30 June 2018
Sites from Kenya, Oman and Saudi Arabia inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List
Friday, 29 June 2018
Crowdfunding campaign launched to #HelpVirunga
Thursday, 28 June 2018
Lake Turkana National Parks (Kenya) inscribed on List of World Heritage in Danger
Thursday, 28 June 2018
World Heritage Young Professionals Forum 2018 Outcomes
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Today, the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee decided to remove the world’s second largest coral reef, Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, from the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger. The decision follows an intensive period of landmark conservation action over the past year, led by the Government of Belize in close collaboration with UNESCO, IUCN and civil society.
The Belize ...
Indigenous peoples launch Forum on World Heritage
Tuesday, 26 June 2018
Opening of the World Heritage Committee in Manama (Bahrain)
Monday, 25 June 2018
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 features 8-9 World ...
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, three mixed sites ...
The renewed agreement outlines the mandate and responsibilities in the field of World Heritage of the Regional Heritage Management Training Centre “Lucio Costa” located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO.
The Lucio Costa Centre is recognized for its mandate focused on reinforcing the capacities of Member States for the conservation and management of ...
BIOPALT project strengthens transboundary collaboration in the Lake Chad region
Monday, 11 June 2018
Marine World Heritage-inspired artwork to celebrate World Oceans Day
Friday, 8 June 2018
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 financial services ...
Building synergies: Gran Canaria Recommendation on Astronomical Heritage and Sacred Places
Wednesday, 6 June 2018
World Environment Day 2018: Beat plastic pollution and defend sustainable tourism
Tuesday, 5 June 2018
Following the regional strategy approved by the World Heritage Committee in Decision 38 COM 10B.4 (Doha, 2014), and contained in the regional Action Plan for World Heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean (PARALC), 2014-2024, a sub-regional meeting with the participation of Mexico and the countries of Central America was held in Zacatecas, Mexico. The objectives of the meeting were to ...
Norwegian parliament adopts zero-emission regulations in World Heritage fjords
Thursday, 17 May 2018
Namib Sand Sea – First prize of heritage photo contest
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
In Memoriam: Augusto F. Villalon, architect and conservationist
Tuesday, 15 May 2018
The “Warsaw Recommendation on Recovery and Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage” was developed at the ‘International conference on reconstruction: The challenges of World Heritage recovery’ held in Warsaw, Poland, from 6 to 8 May.
The purpose of the international conference was to summarize previous discussions and experiences regarding the recovery and reconstruction of UNESCO World Heritage ...
World Migratory Bird Day 2018: Flyways and key sites for birds
Friday, 11 May 2018
African World Heritage Day, Message from the Director General
Saturday, 5 May 2018
Academics mobilized for the safeguarding of African World Heritage
Thursday, 3 May 2018
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 mixed World Heritage ...
International Jazz Day celebrated worldwide on 30 April
Monday, 30 April 2018
Join the World Heritage Volunteers Campaign 2018
Friday, 27 April 2018
UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay and Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa of Bahrain today signed an agreement recognizing the Kingdom of Bahrain as the host of the 42nd session of the World Heritage Committee (Manama, Bahrain, 24 June - 4 July).
This will be the second time that Bahrain hosts the World Heritage Committee since 2011 when Shaikha Mai Chaired the 35th session at UNESCO ...
#RevivetheSpiritofMosul, UNESCO flagship initiative.
The United Arab Emirates, UNESCO and Iraq today signed a historic agreement whereby the Emirates will provide $50,4 million to contribute to the rebuilding of the cultural heritage of Mosul.
Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, has welcomed the partnership. “This is a historic partnership, the largest and unprecedented ...
Marine World Heritage shares conservation trends at Monaco Blue Initiative
Friday, 20 April 2018
Earth Day 2018: End plastic pollution
Thursday, 19 April 2018
18 April: Celebrating young people on the International Day for Monuments and Sites
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Scout Guidelines for youth empowerment towards World Heritage
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
#MyAfricanHeritage – Participate in the African World Heritage Day photo contest
Monday, 16 April 2018
The Geneva Declaration ‘Human Rights and Culture Heritage: Committed Cities Working Together’ was adopted in Geneva, Switzerland on 26 March 2018, marking the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Declaration aims to clarify cities’ obligations in the area of cultural heritage rehabilitation, particularly in relation to intentionally destroyed cultural heritage. ...
The Kenyan National Commission for UNESCO organized a three-day workshop from 26 to 28 March 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya in order to increase youth engagement in the conservation and promotion of World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage.
As a State Party to three important UNESCO Conventions in the field of Culture, Kenya has made the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, ...
UNESCO condemns killing of six guards in Virunga National Park
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
The conservation of wetlands does not only contribute to the safeguarding of biodiversity, it can also support the safeguarding of their cultural and spiritual values. The workshop “The Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Wetlands Supporting the integration of nature and culture in their governance and management” organised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) in ...
Experts build new dynamic for the conservation and revitalization of the Kasbah of Algiers
Thursday, 5 April 2018
From the 13th to the 15th of March 2018, the World Heritage Policy Compendium Working Group met for the second time at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The meeting was organised in follow-up to the first meeting of the group (December 2017, Paris) and on completion of the Policy Compendium Online Consultation, which was carried out in February and March 2018.
The Policy Compendium initiative, ...
In February and March 2018, the World Heritage Centre carried out an online consultation with key World Heritage stakeholders on the first draft of the World Heritage Policy Compendium. The consultation gathered feedback and comments from key World Heritage stakeholders including States Parties to the World Heritage Convention. For the first time, the online consultation included also UNESCO ...
Call for Applications: 3rd African World Heritage Regional Youth Forum 2018
Monday, 26 March 2018
World Water Day 2018: ‘Nature for Water’
Thursday, 22 March 2018
2017-2018 World Heritage Map Published
Thursday, 22 March 2018
State of Conservation of Aldabra Atoll
Thursday, 22 March 2018
International Day of Forests 2018: Forests and Sustainable Cities
Wednesday, 21 March 2018
Women's Day 2018: Women and conservation
Thursday, 8 March 2018
Release of the publication World Heritage for Sustainable Development in Africa
Wednesday, 7 March 2018
Seminar leads to Recommendations for Site Managers
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
UNESCO launches BIOPALT project to safeguard Lake Chad
Monday, 5 March 2018
Protecting Big Cats: World Wildlife Day 2018
Saturday, 3 March 2018
World Heritage Young Professionals Forum 2018 - Call for Applications
Friday, 2 March 2018
The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and UNESCO signed a new agreement this week to supplement the financing of UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF) with US$2 million.
“More than ever, we need to respond quickly and efficiently to assess, secure and safeguard threatened heritage, said UNESCO’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay “The Heritage Emergency Fund is a key tool for doing this and I ...
In January 2018, a joint World Heritage Centre / ICOMOS Reactive Monitoring mission took place at the World Heritage property “Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia” (Federated States of Micronesia).
The mission was requested by the World Heritage Committee to ‘agree on a Desired State of Conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger ...
UNESCO expresses concern over the state of conservation of Selous Game Reserve (United Republic of Tanzania)
Thursday, 22 February 2018
UNESCO World Heritage Centre expresses support after Cyclone Gita
Thursday, 22 February 2018
UNESCO Commits to Safeguarding Lake Chad
Thursday, 22 February 2018
UNESCO launches flagship initiative to revive the spirit of Mosul
Wednesday, 14 February 2018
The World Heritage Centre has launched an online consultation with key World Heritage stakeholders on the first draft of the World Heritage Policy Compendium. The consultation, which is taking place in February and March 2018, will gather feedback and comments from key World Heritage stakeholders on the draft Policy Compendium, currently being developed by a Working Group of cultural and ...
State of conservation of Historical Monuments of Mtskheta
Thursday, 8 February 2018
Spearheading a global conservation movement: Marine World Heritage 2018 annual report
Tuesday, 6 February 2018
The Earth Skills Network (ESN) is a unique collaboration between Earthwatch, UNESCO, IUCN and the business community. It connects leaders from the business and conservation community through mentoring and skill-sharing opportunities.
The Earth Skills Network provides funded training in:
business planning and effective management practices and,
personal development of leadership ...