News

Blog post by Director of World Heritage at UNESCO - Lazare Eloundou AssomoIs there a place you have never been, but always felt a special connection to? From Peru’s Machu Picchu to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the Temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, these wonders of the world are as diverse as they come. But they have one thing in common – they are part of ...

From 2020 through 2022, Colombia has undertaken a project aimed at developing a dossier in view of a future nomination  of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Tayrona National Park for the UNESCO World Heritage List Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1979. It is the world’s highest coastal mountain formation with two peaks at 5,775 metres above sea ...

On 14 January 2023, the Forum on the 50th Anniversary of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was held in Beijing in a hybrid format. Under the theme of "World Heritage for the Next 50 Years", the Forum was co-hosted by the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the ...

The Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage (ARC-WH), in collaboration with the Heritage Commission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announces the open call for the second edition of the short film competition "My Heritage" as part of the "Arab Youth for Heritage" initiative. Get a chance to win a trip to Saudi Arabia to screen the winning films at the side events of the 45th World Heritage ...

Earlier this month, Ningaloo Coast UNESCO World Heritage site in Australia released a pioneering resilient reefs strategy that is aimed at securing the long-term conservation of the coral reef and its communities in a rapidly changing climate. The strategy takes a uniquely holistic view of the threats facing Ningaloo Reef together with the needs of local communities and businesses and ...

Deadline: 23 April 2023, midnight (Paris time) UNESCO launches a call to renew and expand the two existing Expert Facilities for the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (hereafter “the 2005 Convention”), and the UNESCO Culture|2030 Indicators under a new EU/UNESCO Expert Facility Programme for a 4-year mandate (2023-2026). The Expert ...

UNESCO has launched a new guidance tool to enhance mutual understanding and achieve improved and constructive cooperation between the deployment of wind energy projects and the conservation of the world’s most precious heritage places. With climate change being a defining issue of our time, the transition to renewable energy sources and sustainable energy production to replace fossil fuels ...

Forests are some of the most biodiversity-rich habitats on Earth and contain 60,000 different tree species and more than 70% of all animal terrestrial species. Forests also play a crucial role in climate regulation and their protection is among the most cost-effective ways to push climate action. Forests fuel our economies and provide invaluable ecosystem services, being vitally important for ...

Nominations are now open. Deadline for submission: 30 April 2023 The Prize rewards outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world’s cultural landscapes. The Prize was established in 1995 by Greece and named after the actress and activist Melina Mercouri, a strong advocate of integrated heritage conservation and former Minister of Culture of Greece. The UNESCO-Greece ...

The Joint Research Centre through the BIOPAMA program launched a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) focused on ‘Assessing tourism services in protected areas: value chain and economic analyses’. The course is based on Opportunity Study Guidelines produced by The International Trade Centre, and Visitors Count! published by UNESCO and the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation BfN, and written ...

On 17 March 2023, schoolchildren aged 8-10 from the Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve UNESCO World Heritage site took part in UNESCO's Environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling campaign, as part of a global effort to better understand how climate change affects marine biodiversity. Under the spring sun and in the company of dolphins, thirteen young students from ...

Are you a heritage expert interested in learning more about World Heritage management in Latin America and the Caribbean?  We are calling for applications to this online flagship foundational course. Participants will learn how effective management can give heritage places a dynamic and mutually beneficial role in society today and long into the future, reflecting the vast array of people ...

A dynamic team of Bangladeshi primary school and university students, along with local experts, joined UNESCO’s environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling campaign at the Sundarbans to help increase scientific understanding of the unparalleled biodiversity of the world’s largest unbroken mangrove forest. Embracing the heavy chill of January, the eDNA expedition team from Bangladesh set foot on the ...

From 11 to 17 March 2023, UNESCO is organising the First Workshop on Digital Documentation for World Heritage in the Arab region for 'Dive into Heritage.' 'Dive into Heritage' is a project supported by the Ministry of Culture in Saudi Arabia that aims at creating an innovative online platform to present digital data of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Arab region and its related intangible ...

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate girls and women across the globe – and we remember that women’s rights must never be taken for granted. Indeed, the path towards a gender-equal world is an uncertain one: gradual progress, made over generations, can be wiped out in one fell swoop. The women and girls of Afghanistan know this well. In a few short months, they have lost their most ...

Over time, rainforest communities in Africa have developed a close relationship with their neighbours, the so-called 'umbrella species' such as great apes and elephants. Umbrella species are often either iconic or threatened, or both. These species are called 'umbrella species' because their protection also entails the protection of a wide range of fauna and flora that share their habitat. ...

In line with UNESCO’s efforts since 1988 to encourage research on the Silk Roads as routes of interchange and dialogue of cultures, the UNESCO/Republic of Korea Funds-in-Trust (FiT) project “Support for the Asian Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination(s) (Phase II)” was launched in November 2018 and completed in November 2022. Upon completion of this project, the final ...

Through innovative national debt restructuring and blue bond arrangements, both Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles and the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System in Belize are securing sustainable finance to help conserve their marine World Heritage sites over the next decades. On 19 January 2022, global marine protected area practitioners met online with World Heritage managers from the Seychelles ...

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre held two workshops with World Heritage site managers and national Focal Points in Latin America and the Caribbean to prepare a Regional Action Plan for the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting. Periodic Reporting is one of the core conservation and monitoring mechanisms of the Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of UNESCO World Heritage, praised the commitment of ...

On 14 February 2023, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre organized the second Coordination Group meeting on ‘Post COVID-19 World Heritage Site Management: Integration of Conservation, Tourism and Local Livelihood Strategies at World Heritage Sites’, a project funded by the government of Japan through the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust. Subsequent to the project’s launch in June 2022 (see Post ...