The Director-General of UNESCO firmly condemns the destruction of the ancient temple of Baalshamin, an iconic part of the Syrian site of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site. “The systematic destruction of cultural symbols embodying Syrian cultural diversity reveals the true intent of such attacks, which is to deprive the Syrian people of its knowledge, its identity and history. One week ...

The Syrian cultural heritage community suffered two immense blows within one week with the murder of archaeologist Khaled Assad in Palmyra and the killing of the Assistant Director of laboratories at the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums Qasem Abdullah Yehiya. “I am both saddened and outraged to learn of the brutal murder of Khaled Asaad, who oversaw antiquities at the UNESCO ...

The Director-General of UNESCO strongly condemns the destruction of the Mar Elian monastery located in the Syrian town of al-Qaryatayn. The monastery is a major pilgrimage site for Syria’s Christian community, with yearly festivities in honor of Saint Elian drawing thousands of visitors. “The intentional targeting and systematic destruction of the cultural heritage of Syria is reaching ...

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 Tropical Pacific ...

On the occasion of International Youth Day, over ten Action Camps will be carried on in the framework of the World Heritage Volunteers 2015 campaign. Most of these Action Camps are  led youth from all around the world. This year, the theme of International Youth Day is Youth Civic Engagement. World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) campaign for 2015 seeks to mobilize and involve young people and ...

Job Vacancy: Deputy Director of the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, Shanghai Center The World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO, Shanghai Center (WHITRAP Shanghai) announces the vacancy of the position of Deputy Director, from 1 August ...

Over the last several months,the World Heritage Centre has been receiving numerous messages from citizens and NGOs expressing their concern regarding the A303 tunnel project, located within the boundaries of the World Heritage property “Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites”, and the adverse impact it may have on the landscape, archaeological remains, and hydrogeology and ecology of the ...