UK defers the World Heritage proposal for the twin Anglo-Saxon monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow.

The decision by authorities in the United Kingdom to postpone the submission of a World Heritage nomination for the site from 2010 to 2011emphasizes how important it is ensure that the strongest possible case be made to justify the international significance of a site when it is put forward to the World Heritage Committee. Given the increasing rigor to which nomination documents are subjected, governments have made them much more elaborate and thorough than in the past.

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U.S. House condemns illegal logging, decimation of wildlife in Madagascar

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Resolution today that condemns the unchecked illegal logging and decimation of Madagascar's endemic species, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), author of the resolution, said in a statement published on his Web site.
"The House is sending a firm signal that the devastating and illegal destruction of Madagascar's natural resources will not be tolerated," Blumenauer said. "Illegal logging not only does irreparable harm to the environment, but it destroys livelihoods.

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World Heritage sites want your input

By Laura Bly, USA TODAY

TripAdvisor is launching a new partnership with UNESCO to solicit opinions and feedback on nearly 900 World Heritage sites across the globe.

Many of UNESCO's World Heritage designations — Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park, and Venice, Italy, among them are no strangers to visitor scrutiny. But others, from Southern Illinois Cahokia Mounds archaeological site to Australia's Lord Howe Island Group, aren't as well-known. Using customized review forms, travelers can submit comments on the condition of the sites and find out more on how to protect them.

Click here to see the Travel Advisor announcement.

Mt. Kilimanjaro Ice Cap Continues Rapid Retreat

Researchers studying the mountaintop, including those involved in this study, differ in their conclusions on how much of the melting could result from human activity or other climatological influences. Click here for more information.

World Heritage Status: Is There Opportunity for Economic Gain?

The Lake District, England's largest national park, commissioned a study to determine the economic impact of World Heritage status, as part of their effort to secure World Heritage designation for the park. Given a previous cost/benefit analysis developed in the United Kingdom by Price Watershouse Coopers consultants which highlighted the high cost of preparing a nomination dossier. The Lake District study is a further attempt to examine the benefits of World Heritage inscription. The study finds, among several interesting conclusions, that "attributing socio-economic impacts to the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation is complex and difficult. It is rarely the designation itself which achieves the impacts, and more normally the actions and investments of the local stakeholders." To see the complete study, click here.

Manitoba puts $10 Million into Trust Fund for UNESCO

With four days remaining in his decade-long reign, outgoing Manitoba Premier Gary Doer made a significant contribution toward his legacy yesterday, pledging $10-million to help preserve a swath of boreal forest as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Click here for the news report.

Taos Pueblo Included on World Monuments Fund 2010 Watch List of Endangered Sites

Bonnie Burnham, President of the World Monuments Fund (WMF), today announced the 2010 World Monuments Watch. For more than 40 years, WMF, a nonprofit organization, has worked to preserve cultural heritage across the globe. The 2010 Watch includes 93 sites now at risk, representing 47 countries. These include 9 sites from the United States and 15 dating from the 20th century. The Watch is WMF’s flagship advocacy program, and it calls international attention to threatened cultural heritage. One of the sites on the new Watch List is Taos Pueblo.Surrounded by growing region, Taos Pueblo, the only US World Heritage Site, designated for the significance of its living culture faces a variety of threats.
For more information on Taos, see: http://www.wmf.org/project/taos-pueblo

U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Awards Support for Major Projects at Sites in Peru, Nepal, and Macedonia

The conservation of the Sacred City of Caral in the Supe Valley of Peru is one of three large-scale partnership-based cultural heritage preservation projects to receive financial support from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) in 2009.

Read the whole article, here.

U.N. scientists assess mining threats to Glacier National Park

WEST GLACIER - A team of scientists from the United Nations is visiting Glacier National Park, assessing potential threats posed by mining plans in Canadian wildlands upstream of the park. Click here to find out more.

The limits of soft cultural power

Guarding precious and vulnerable places is one of the better things the UN’s cultural agency does—but it may topple over if it stretches too far. To read the whole article, click here.

Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report

The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009 was provided to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts on 30 June 2009 and subsequently tabled in the Australian Parliament.
The Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2009 is a summary of the past and present condition of the environmental, economic and social values of the Great Barrier Reef and presents its possible future. Click here for more information.

To List or Not to List?

In the words of a UNESCO mission last year, "Commercial interests have driven measures to facilitate large numbers of tourists, compromising the authentic heritage values which attracted visitors to the property in the first place.'' This is most recently seen in the ancient city of Dresden, the site removed from the World Heritage List at this past Conference in Seville, Spain due to the construction of a bridge. Newsweek writer William Underhill reports on the contradiction between the goals of UNESCO and the goals of the country when dealing with World Heritage Sites. Read the full article to understand how UNESCO is working to remedy this situation.

Chinese and U.S. World Heritage sites become Sister Parks

The South China Karst World Heritage Site and the U.S. Mammoth Cave National Park World Heritage Site signed a sister park agreement today. The sister park agreement will mark a starting point for environmental cooperation and communication between the two. Both countries have much to offer one another in areas of sustainable development, scientific research, science popularization, and management. This is the second sister park relationship between China and the U.S., with the first being in 2006 between China's Mount Huangshan and U.S.' Yosemite National Park. Keep reading to learn more about the opportunities for cooperation and communication between the newly created China-U.S. sister parks.

Cahokia Mounds in southern Illinois is a UN World Heritage Site

Noted anthropologist Timothy Pauketat has taken to telling the story of Cahokia, an area encompassing the ruins of the cultural center to the people once referred to by historians as the "Mound Builders." Although this story has often been told in passing to students as they learn their American history, it deserves a much closer look. Pauketat does just that and, "provides a compellingly argued and highly engaging account of a lost civilization in America's own backyard," according to Chicago Tribune contributor, Scott Stevens. Read Stevens article to get his complete review of Pauketat's book, "Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City of the Mississippi."

17 Australian World Heritage areas at risk

An online news source reported that a recent study found that, "seventeen of Australia's iconic World Heritage properties will experience increased risks from climate change." Some of the seventeen at risk sites that are natural are: the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, Lord Howe Island Group, the Tasmanian Wilderness, and the Greater Blue Mountains. The study places special emphasis on the Great Barrier Reef, which is Australia's largest World Heritage site and the world's largest and most complex coral reef system. The online article summarizes some of the risks and general consensus surrounding the recent study. For further information about the study, read the full report, Implications of climate change for Australia's World Heritage properties: a preliminary assessment