The World Heritage Centre wishes to pay tribute to Dr. Joseph Eboreime, a leading personality of world cultural heritage in Africa who passed away on Wednesday 27 October. Dr. Joseph Eboreime was the pioneer Director of Monuments, Heritage and Sites of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) of Nigeria. He was a respected heritage professional who garnered recognition both ...

Ms Darwina L Neal, left, with Dr Mechtild Rössler and others at Oakland Plantation during a US/ICOMOS symposium on landscapes held in Natchitoches, Louisiana, USA in March 2004 .© ICOMOS/IFLA Cultural Landscape Scientific Commiittee Landscape architect and conservationist Ms Darwina L. Neal, one of North America’s most renowned experts in cultural landscape conservation, passed away on 4 ...

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 ...

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 ...

UNESCO expresses its condolences for the death of José de los Santos Sauna, Governor of the indigenous community of the Kogui people, on 6 August 2020 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia), caused by coronavirus Covid-19. The cabildo governor will be remembered as one of the most representative leaders of the indigenous peoples of Colombia, who stood out for his work in defending ...

UNESCO expresses its sorrow at the death of Mr Eusebio Leal on 31 July 2020. Historian of the city of Havana, Cuba and Director of the conservation programme for the historic centre of Havana, Eusebio Leal was an exceptional witness to and actor for cultural heritage worldwide. The passing of Mr. Leal is a great loss for the city of Havana and for Cuba. UNESCO offers its condolences to the ...

The World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Dr. Guy Suzon Ramangason, former Director General of Madagascar National Parks, who passed away on 30th April 2020.  Guy Suzon made an important contribution to biodiversity conservation in Madagascar and beyond.  After an international career at IUCN and WWF, Guy Suzon took the reins of Madagascar National Parks, ...

It is with the deepest sorrow that we learned of the passing of Dr Roland Silva, former President of ICOMOS International (1990-1999) and its Emiritus President thereafter.  He died in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 1 January 2020 at the age of 86 after a brief illness. On this very sad occasion, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to join Dr Silva’s friends from all corners of the world in ...

The team of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness after learning that former President of ICOMOS International, Prof Michael Petzet passed away on 30 May 2019. The passing away of Michael Petzet represents an important loss for the conservation community. His strong opinions were always a reflection of his unerring commitment to excellence in the conservation of ...

The staff of the World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness after learning that Dr. Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), passed away on 23 January 2019 after a short illness. This is a tragic loss for CMS, all biodiversity related Conventions and the United Nations. Bradnee became Executive ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre was saddened to learn of the passing of David Lowenthal, the American historian and geographer whose revolutionary work contributed to heritage study being recognized as an academic discipline. He argued that heritage was not history, but rather what people choose from history to define themselves.    Born in the United States, he lived most of his life in ...

It is with deep sorrow that we learned of the passing of Dr Henry Forrester Cleere, in London on 23 August 2018. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre staff would like to express our heartfelt condolences to Henry’s family. Dr Henry Cleere was born in London on 2 August 1926. After completing a Masters degree in English, Henry Cleere worked for over 20 years in the iron and steel industry before ...

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 ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre was saddened to learn of the death of Dr Janice Lindsay, Principal Director, Culture and Creative Industries Policy Division in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (MCGES) in Jamaica. Dr Lindsay was a Cultural Heritage Development Specialist focusing on the economic development of tangible and intangible heritage assets. She was also ...

May 31, 1945 - May 5, 2018. Architect Augusto F. Villalon, one of Asia’s most renowned experts in heritage conservation, recently passed away in Manila, Philippines. During his long career, Arch. Augusto F. Villalon made an outstanding contribution to heritage conservation and to the World Heritage Convention in particular. A former President of ICOMOS Philippines, he was practically a lone ...

The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing  of Wayne Lotter, courageous defender of natural heritage and wildlife, who was attacked by a gunman in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) on 16 August 2017.  The Director of UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dr. Mechtild Rössler, presents her sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the renowned elephant ...

The World Heritage Centre expresses its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Sylvio Mutal, who passed away on 18 February 2017. Mr Mutal had a full and rich career spanning more than 40 years as a Practitioner and Executive Manager of the International Development Cooperation. After an education in Istanbul (Turkey), London (UK), Leiden (Holland) and Santiago de Chile ...

The Director of the World Heritage Center deplores the attacks on conservation guards and conservation staff working in World Heritage sites. This week was marked by the deaths of two guards, Bruce Danny Ngongo, in Lobéké National Park (Cameroon), and Patrick Prince Muhayirwa, in the Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo). These two rangers were killed in the course of ...

The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Larry Hamilton, a pioneer in nature conservation whose impact touched all the corners of the globe. Larry was an exceptional educator, advisor, and pioneer of courses in forest ecology, watershed studies, interdisciplinary collaboration, and international resource issues at Cornell University’s Department of ...

The World Heritage Centre has learned with great sadness of the recent passing of Luc Hoffmann, a pioneer in nature conservation whose impact touched all the corners of the globe. An ornithologist, conservationist and philanthropist, Mr Hoffmann co-founded the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and helped establish the Ramsar Convention for the protection of Wetlands. He set up the Tour du Valat ...