Honduran indigenous and environmental organizer Berta Cáceres has been assassinated in her home. She was one of the leading organizers for indigenous land rights in Honduras.

In 1993 she co-founded the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). For years the group faced a series of threats and repression.

Her death prompted international outrage at the murderous treatment of campaigners in Honduras, as well as a flood of tributes to a prominent and courageous defender of the natural world.

As reported by a number of news agencies about 72,000 hectares of World Heritage Designated forests in western Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost state have been burned by clusters of bushfires. It has also been reported that most of the bushfires were ignited by a dry lightning storm that crossed the island in mid January.

Fires have posed an enormous, ongoing challenge to the fire service, and threaten and destroy vegetation that is unique to Tasmania, including iconic alpine species such as the Pencil Pine and cushion plants, as well as temperate rainforests. In addition, fires are burning up large areas of organic soils upon which the unique Tasmanian vegetation depends as reported by the environmentalists. It is believed that it will be extremely unlikely for the burnt areas with the endemic alpine flora to fully recover given the slow growth of these species and the increased risk of subsequent fires according to Professor David Bowman, University of Tasmania.
There is a great environmental impact to the Tasmanian World Heritage Wilderness, especially fires in the Walls of Jerusalem National Park and Cradle Mountain-Lake Saint Clair National Park. Since the declaration of the World Heritage Area, fire has been carefully regulated and campfires are prohibited resulting in the reduction in the number of bushfires. Unfortunately, over the last decade there have been an increasing number of lightning storms that have ignited fires. This current fire season however, is shaping up to be extremely unusual because of the high number of fires set by lightning, their duration, and erratic and destructive behaviour that has surprised many fire fighters.

It looks like that another World heritage site has been confirmed as a filming location for Hollywood. The filming of the next Star Wars: Episode VIII is reported to begin soon and the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, Croatia is one of the filming locations. Star Wars VIII is expected to hit the big screens in December 2017.

A number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites have been chosen locations for the film Industry. Another World Heritage site, Skellig Michael, the remote Irish island recently captivated audiences in the final scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Another factor that draws film studios to these locations is tax incentives in European countries that have been major boost local economies.

The walled city of Dubrovnik, overlooking the cobalt waters of the Adriatic Sea on the Dalmatian coast now joins the fast-growing ranks of World Heritage Sites that have played scenic roles in major movies. Often referred to as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’, the old city of Dubrovnik was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1979.

It is important to note that that Dubrovnik is hardly a stranger to the film and entertainment industry. The old town of the Croatian city was also a key filming site for the scenes of the King’s Landing, the fictitious capital of the Seven Kingdoms in HBO’s medieval fantasy drama series Game of Thrones.

The city was a Mediterranean sea power in the 13th century. Historically the capital of Republic of Ragusa, the origins of Dubrovnik is disputed to this day. However, it is traditionally said to have sprung in the 7th century on the then Laus Island as a shelter for refugees from the nearby Greek colony of Epidaurum. In 1997, the city suffered major damage from an earthquake, but thankfully some of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture of the time did not suffer any damage. In the 1970s, and in the 1990s, the city was devastated by extensive armed conflict following the fall of Yugoslavia.

It was reported yesterday that UNESCO’s Director-General, Irina Bokova, and the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, will sign an agreement on the establishment of a Task Force of cultural heritage experts in the framework of UNESCO’s global coalition Unite for Heritage on 16 February in Rome.

The task force will create a list of experts who could be deployed for the conservation of cultural heritage affected by crises. It has been reported that this agreement is a landmark in the development of UNESCO’s global coalition Unite for Heritage, which was launched in June 2015 during the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn (Germany). UNESCO hopes that other countries will take similar steps to reinforce the international community’s ability to respond to the growing threats facing cultural heritage in different parts of the world.

UNESCO states that the establishment of a Task Force bringing together cultural heritage experts and the Italian Carabinieri (Italian Paramilitary) force specialized in the fight against the illicit trafficking in cultural property will enhance UNESCO’s capacity to respond to future emergencies. The establishment of this Task Force by the Italian Government directly implements the Strategy adopted by Member States at UNESCO’s General Conference last November.

The Strategy also sets out to reinforce UNESCO’s action for the protection of cultural heritage and the promotion of cultural diversity and pluralism. It calls on Member States to Contribute to the Strategy, notably through mechanisms for the rapid deployment of national expertise in emergency situations under UNESCO’s overall coordination. The reinforcement of UNESCO’s capacity to respond to current challenges builds on existing international legal instruments, notably the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and enhances the scope of their application.

As reported recently, there are now 48 sites on the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in Danger.

One of these sites is Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. The coastal area of Belize is an outstanding and remarkable natural system consisting of the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries. The system’s seven sites illustrate the evolutionary history of reef development and are a significant habitat for threatened species, including marine turtles, manatees and the American marine crocodile.

Another one of these sites is Rainforests of the Atsinanana. The Rainforests of the Atsinanana comprise six national parks distributed along the eastern part of the island. These relic forests are critically important for maintaining ongoing ecological processes. These relict forests are critically important for maintaining ongoing ecological processes necessary for the survival of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity, which reflects the island’s geological history. Having completed its separation from all other land masses more than 60 million years ago, Madagascar’s plant and animal life evolved in isolation. The rainforests are inscribed for their importance in both ecological and biological processes as well as their biodiversity and the threatened species they support. Many species are rare and threatened especially primates and lemurs.

One of the most remarkable archaeological sits in South America, is Chan Chan Archaeological Zone. The Chimu Kingdom, with Chan Chan as its capital, reached its apogee in the 15th century, not long before falling to the Incas. The planning of this huge city, the largest in pre-Columbian America, reflects a strict political and social strategy, marked by the city’s divides into nine ‘citadels’ or palaces’ forming autonomous units. The archaeologists believe that the environmental conditions including extreme climatic conditions like El Nino phenomenon is causing the site’s decay and deterioration. However ongoing maintenance using earthen materials has mitigated the degree of physical impact.

According to several different reports, there have been several confrontations between the Kremlin and Heritage experts in the last few years and a UNESCO experts’ commission is currently contemplating the possibility of taking the Kremlin and Red Square off the UNESCO world heritage list.

These recent developments have been created by two major recent events. First, President Putin suggested the removal of the building number 14 on the historic site, and then he wants to erect a monument to Prince Vladimir, celebrated founder of the Russian state. The statue has been suggested to stand on Borowizki plaza, 500 meters from the main visitors’ entrance. However, the alterations proposed by Mr. Putin for the area around the Kremlin, could cost Moscow its status as a UNESCO world heritage site.

The history of conflict between the experts and the Kremlin goes back a few years. The historical experts in Russia threatened to sue when the administration at the historic Kutafja gate erected two visitor pavilions with turnstiles. However, the big escalation happened in 2013, when Putin ordered the construction of a helipad. Thousands of cubic meters of ground were excavated and trees relocated.

The conservator Todor Krestew working with the Kremlin ensures that everything has been discussed with the respective authorities and international experts and he has confirmed that the Building No. 14 is of no historical architectural value. The monument seems to be a bigger concern, as the highest part of the Kremlin’s wall is only nineteen meters high. However, the 300-ton heavy statue is planned to reach 24 meters.

Interestingly, in September last year, the Moscow city council assembly based their decision on the location for the monument on an Internet poll, and sixty two percent had voted for Borowizki plaza, which is close to the Kremlin. The suggestion came from the Russian military history society, who initiated the voting. However, many historical experts believe that the statue would destroy the historically grown city core, and this led to the first warning by UNESCO in late September. 

The 1st World Heritage Youth Forum (WHYF) in Asia, held from 25 November to 3 December 2015 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, successfully concluded with serious and realistic suggestions by young people to promote participation in World Heritage preservation among their peers in the Asia-Pacific region as reported by the UNESCO.

The WHYF in Asia, organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Cambodian National Commission for UNESCO and APSARA National Authority, brought together 38 young people between 20 and 30 years old, from 20 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Forum focusing on the three main themes of monument management, community and tourism, created a great environment for lively discussions with experts. The participants also visited Angkor, a World Heritage site in Cambodia, and shared issues related to World Heritage sites in the region. The discussions also explored roles and challenges related to World Heritage preservation and promotion and the participation of youth. The highlight of the forum was presenting the Youth Declaration during the 25^th Technical session for the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor), on 2 December.

The forum participants expressed their concerns to the 300 attendees of the technical session, stating that World Heritage conservation is not a priority on the national level in some developing countries, and that there is a marked lack of interest and shared responsibility among young people in the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, it is important to create active roles for young people in the efforts.

The young participants suggested that in order to boost participation among young people, they need to emphasize the importance of youth empowerment programs such as the formation of a World Heritage Youth Council at the regional, national and university levels to ensure successive hosting of an event like the World Heritage Youth Forum. They also suggested that State Parties support initiatives fostering social innovation for World Heritage, such as an annual World Heritage Day for Young People, and encouraged the private sector to participate in conservation and promotion of World Heritage sites through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Asking various stakeholders to reflect the voice of young people and provide mentorship, they concluded the declaration with the strong resolution: “to maintain the legacy that is our common heritage and to respect ancestral values not just within the Asia-Pacific region but for the world”.

The declaration will also be presented during the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul, Turkey from 10 to 20 July 2016 as reported by the UNESCO.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1417

Anger as nude statues are covered up Rome has turned into an interesting blame game.

Ancient nude statues were covered with white boxes in Rome so as not to embarrass­ the President of Iran. This move was done for Hassan Rouhani, who is Muslim, as he toured the city’s Capitoline Museums on a state visit.

Hassan Rouhani is on a tour of Italy and France to drum up trade and diplomatic links after his country signed historic deal to limit its nuclear program.

However,  many Italians are not pleased with this decision.  “Whoever comes in our country, and this goes for an Iranian president as well, must accept our values and identity which must be defended not hidden,” said Barbara Saltamartini of the Northern League party.

As reported earlier today by the Associated Press, the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been totally destroyed by the terrorist organization, ISIS and there is now only a field of rubble where a magnificent ancient cultural site once stood. For 1,400 years the Christian Monastery survived all assaults by nature and man, and was place of worship for Christians in Iraq. In earlier centuries, generations of monks tucked candles in the niches and prayed in the cool chapel. The Greek letters chi and rho, representing the first two letters of Christ’s name, were carved near the entrance as reported and evidenced by looking at photographs that are now the only reminder of that beautiful site.

The most recent satellite photos obtained exclusively by The Associated Press confirm the worst fears of church authorities and preservationists that St. Elijah’s Monastery of Mosul has been completely destroyed.

This is not the first time that the terrorist Islamic group, which has killed thousands of civilians and forced out hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and towns has also destroyed places of worship for not just Christians, but also Moslems. Along the way, its fighters have destroyed buildings and ruined historical and culturally significant structures they consider contrary to their interpretation of Islam.

Those who knew the monastery wondered about its fate after the extremists swept through in June 2014 and largely cut communications to the area. Now, St. Elijah’s has joined a growing list of more than 100 demolished religious and historic sites, including mosques, tombs, shrines and churches in Syria and Iraq. The extremists have defaced or ruined ancient monuments in Nineveh, Palmyra and Hatra. Museums and libraries have been looted, books burned, artwork crushed or trafficked and sold in the black market.