The Latest Breaking News from World Heritage

Japan has formally resubmitted documents seeking to obtain UNESCO World Heritage recognition for a controversial former gold mine that has added to diplomatic frictions with South Korea over Japanese wartime actions

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the tourism industry worldwide. International arrivals dropped by 74% globally in 2020 and tourist accommodations, businesses, borders and heritage sites had to close, resulting in a loss of income for those working in the tourism sectors. In Africa, the impact was…

Conservationist Dr Kellie Leigh says that unexpected discoveries within the World Heritage area offer clues for saving koalas from extinction.

Urban planning has a long history, stretching back to Ancient Greece and even Mesopotamia. Many centuries later, Europe finally caught up with the idea when Genoa developed the Strade Nuove and the Palazzi dei Rolli – the “new streets” and “Rolli palaces” – in the late 1500s.

Over the next 30 years, a third of the world's glaciers classified as World Heritage sites will have disappeared, according to a UNESCO report published last month. But what will that look like on the ground? Argentina is home to some 16,000 glaciers that have been closely watched for years.…

Back-to-back bleaching events have highlighted the critical threat that climate change poses to the Great Barrier Reef. But few people are aware of the network of gullies pumping out about half the sediment that is polluting reef water quality and threatening its World Heritage status.

Located in the low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans straddle the border between India and Bangladesh and cover more than 1 million hectares, making them the world’s largest single contiguous mangrove swamp. A Ramsar site and a UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed in 1987, they are home…

Like the Great Barrier Reef, scientists say the mountain frog's ecosystem is in a precarious position which could lead to a World Heritage "In Danger" classification.

A United Nations-backed mission is recommending that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef be added to the list of endangered World Heritage sites.

You might be forgiven for thinking it’s Groundhog Day reading headlines about the Great Barrier Reef potentially being listed on the World Heritage “in danger” list. After all, there have been similar calls in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017.

Scientists have made recommendation for the reef. So what did their report say, how might the government respond and what happens next?