New Year's Message from the Director of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2229
The year 2020 was intended to be a "biodiversity super year?h. Many far-reaching decisions concerning the preservation of biodiversity were meant to be taken in 2020. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of international meetings could not take place and have been postponed.
 Meanwhile, the pandemic is not an isolated phenomenon. Scientific evidence links the emergence of the COVID-19 virus to the breakdown of ecosystems and biodiversity loss. Humankind has been destroying ...
30th Anniversary of San Gimignano's inscription on the World Heritage List
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2228
12 December 2020 marked the 30th anniversary of the inscription of the Historic Centre of San Gimignano on UNESCO's World Heritage List. 
On this occasion, the City of San Gimignano organized a celebratory event, bringing together high-level representatives from the Italian government and UNESCO, as well as site managers, experts, artists, and representatives from the public sector and academia.
The Director of the World Heritage Centre, Mechtild Rössler, delivered a speech ...
Join the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 Campaign
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2227
Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce the selected projects of the World Heritage Volunteers 2020 - 2021 Campaign.
Under the theme Fostering Youth Commitment towards World Heritage, 55 action camp projects will be implemented from February to December 2021, at 55 World Heritage properties and sites on the Tentative Lists, by 49 organizations in 32 countries. These projects will include concrete awareness-raising and ...
Monitoring World Heritage site closures
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2103
Monitoring World Heritage site closures
Introduction to the global map on the closure of World Heritage sites due to Covid-19 and analysis.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have taken measures to restrict movements of people and access to certain areas.
This includes the closure of natural and cultural World Heritage sites in the 167 countries they are located in. Please consider the following when reviewing the map:
The World Heritage Convention has been ratified ...
2019-2020 World Heritage Map Published
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2226
The latest version of the World Heritage map, produced by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre can now be ordered from the World Heritage Centre website.
The featured image on the map presents the Fujian Tulou World Heritage property in China, country hosting the next extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee in June/July 2021.
This poster-sized wall map features all 1,121 World Heritage properties and is illustrated with magnificent photos and explanatory captions. It ...
How marine World Heritage sites successfully assess climate vulnerability
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2225
On 3 December 2020, climate experts and local management teams from the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites met online in an effort to accelerate replication of initial successes in assessing climate vulnerability. 
The online meeting was the fourth edition in a new digital exchange platform that was launched by the World Heritage Centre in March 2020.During the meeting, experts from Australia's James Cook University presented a newly developed rapid assessment tool called the ...
Firefighting training at Kasubi Tombs World Heritage site in Uganda
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2224
UNESCO's Heritage Emergency Fund (HEF) supported an on-site firefighting training on 7 December 2020 for local communities and site management at the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi World Heritage site in Uganda organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities Department of Museums and Monuments.
The training is part of an ongoing HEF project for "Post-fire emergency assistance for the World Heritage property of the Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi, Uganda?h ...
International Mountain Day 2020: Mountain Biodiversity
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2223
Mountain biodiversity is the theme of this year's International Mountain Day, a day to reflect on the importance of their rich biodiversity, as well as address the threats they face.
Mountains are home to 15% of the world´s population and host about half of the world's biodiversity hotspots. They provide freshwater for everyday life to half of humanity. Their conservation is a key factor for sustainable development and is part of Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development ...
UNESCO condemns armed attack on Niger's W natural park (W-Arly-Pendjari Complex)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2222
At dawn on Friday 04 December 2020, the Tapoa base at the entrance to the W natural park in Niger was the target of a deadly attack that claimed the lives of two park officials. UNESCO, through the World Heritage Centre, strongly condemns this attack, which comes in a global context already weakened by a health crisis due to COVID-19. 
"This armed attack fills us with deep sadness and immense pain," said Mechtild Rössler, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. ...
International scientific meeting on Heritage Impact Assessment
http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2221
The Deputy Director of the World Heritage Centre participates in the international scientific meeting on the "Heritage Impact Assessment: A Tool for the Protection and Safeguarding of World Heritage?h
On 26 November 2020, the Foundation for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Rabat, in partnership with the Ministry Of Youth Culture And Sports and UNESCO, organised an international scientific meeting on the "Heritage impact assessment: a tool for the protection and ...
