World Wildlife Day, 3 March 2021: Forests and Livelihoods
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2256
Today is World Wildlife Day with the theme: "Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet," as a way to highlight the central role of forests, forest species and ecosystems services in sustaining the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people globally, and particularly of Indigenous and local communities with historic ties to forest and forest-adjacent areas. This aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13 and 15, and their wide-ranging ...
UNESCO and World Tourism Organization collaborate on cultural tourism recovery guidelines
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2260
New guidelines developed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in cooperation with UNESCO outline how tourism and culture stakeholders can work together to support the inclusive recovery of cultural tourism, as countries around the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The publication, entitled UNWTO Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 2: Cultural Tourism, draws on the insights and expertise of the two UN agencies to analyse the impact of the pandemic on their respective ...
New research demonstrates crucial role of World Heritage marine sites in fighting climate change
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2258
Last week, UNESCO released the first global scientific assessment of its World Heritage marine sites' blue carbon ecosystems, highlighting the critical environmental value of these habitats. While these sites represent less than 1% of the world's ocean, they host at least 21% of the world's blue carbon ecosystem area, and 15% of the world's blue carbon assets. 
Over the last decade, scientists have discovered that seagrass meadows, tidal marshes, and mangroves, ...
Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention available in Portuguese
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2259
The Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention set forth the procedures for the protection and conservation of World Heritage properties, the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger, the granting of International Assistance under the World Heritage Fund, and the mobilization of national and international support in favor of the Convention.
They were revised in 2019 by the World Heritage Committee ...
UNESCO's World Heritage Centre and Chair on African Heritage at the Great Zimbabwe University join forces to promote capacity building
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2257
Integrating World Heritage in the Curricula of Institutions of Higher Learning in Africa - UNESCO's World Heritage Centre (WHC) and Chair on African Heritage at the Great Zimbabwe University join forces to promote capacity building in Africa.
On 24 February 2021, the Africa Unit of the UNESCO WHC and the Great Zimbabwe University (GZU), held an online consultation meeting dedicated to exploring areas of cooperation and the increased role of Universities in conserving and promoting ...
In memoriam: Hugo Houben (founder of CRAterre)
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2255
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 and launched into research to satisfy his immense curiosity, but above all, to understand and ...
African National Focal Points for Periodic Reporting finalize Third Cycle Draft Regional Action Plan
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2254
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the UNESCO Field Offices in Africa, organized an regional workshop from 17 to 19 February 2021, where National Focal Points from the Africa region participated online.
Following the submission of the Third Cycle of Periodic Reporting questionnaires in July 2020 and several consultations with World Heritage site managers and African heritage experts of the Africa region and their ...
Preparing the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2252
After closing the UN Decade on Biodiversity, countries are this year negotiating a new 10 year agenda to halt the accelerating loss of biodiversity. This new and overarching global biodiversity framework, dubbed the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, is to be adopted at the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 15), planned later in 2021 in Kunming, China.
A Consultation Workshop of Biodiversity-Related Conventions on the ...
UNESCO statement on a reported construction project near the World Heritage site of Angkor in Cambodia
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2251
UNESCO is closely following plans for a 75-hectare amusement park under discussion near the World Heritage site of Angkor in Cambodia.
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has also received numerous appeals from third parties expressing their concern.
The plenary session of the International Coordinating Committee for Angkor (ICC), held virtually on 26 and 27 January, addressed this project with particular attention, and the technical opinions of experts in the fields of conservation and ...
Ecomuseum of the Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lope-Okanda reopens (Gabon)
https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2250
After a closure of more than ten years, the Lopé National Park Ecomuseum reopened its doors on 5 February 2021 with an official ceremony attended by the Executive Secretary and staff of the National Parks Agency (ANPN), local authorities and the head of culture from the UNESCO office in Libreville.
This important building is of great pedagogical interest for learning about conservation through the valorization of history and the close relationship maintained by local communities with ...
