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29 April

• Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts: Media Release – Boost for World Heritage Nomination of Australian Convict Sites
  The Australian Convict Sites are:
  • Tasmania: Port Arthur Historic Site (Tasman Peninsula), Cascades Female Factory (Hobart), Darlington Probation Station (Maria Island), Coal Mines Historic Site (via Premadeyna) and Brickendon–Woolmers Estates (near Longford).
  • New South Wales: Old Government House and Domain (Parramatta), Hyde Park Barracks (Sydney), Cockatoo Island Convict Site (Sydney) and Old Great North Road (near Wiseman’s Ferry).
  • Norfolk Island: Kingston and Arthur’s Vale Historic Area.
  • Western Australia: Fremantle Prison.

  These sites are already included in the National Heritage List and protected under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Tasmanian Minister for Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts, Michelle O’Byrne, welcomed the news, saying this is an important step toward international recognition of Australia’s convict heritage.

27 April

• Exhibition of Satellite Photographs: What a sight! World Heritage seen from Space
  From 17/03/2009 09:00 to 07/05/2009 18:00. UNESCO Headquarters, railings around the building (Suffren side) Paris, France
  Humans have always tried to gain a better understanding of the world they live in. Viewing the Earth from space offers a unique opportunity to do so. The view of our planet from space shows us the effects of human intervention. Looking through the lens of Earth observation systems, we gain new insights. This may help us to preserve the environment as well as our own human cultural heritage, as well as to respond to new global challenges. This exhibition, organized in the framework of the partnership between UNESCO and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) on the use of space technologies in favour of World Heritage, shows the human fingerprint on Earth through a selection of satellite photographs.

• Director-General inaugurates the UNESCO-German Aerospace Centre Exhibition on World Heritage sites seen from space
  On 2nd April 2009, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, inaugurated the UNESCO-German Aerospace Centre Exhibition on World Heritage sites seen from space, with Mr Johann-Dietrich Worner, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Centre. The exhibition, set up on the outer perimeter of UNESCO’s headquarter building, consists of 30 beautiful satellite images of World Heritage sites as diverse as Machu Picchu, Vatican City, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Mount Kilimanjaro.

• Director-General inaugurates exhibition celebrating re-installation of the Aksum Obelisk
  On 23 April 2009, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura inaugurated an exhibition at UNESCO Headquarters celebrating the successful reinstallation of the Aksum Obelisk in Ethiopia. Entitled "Aksum Rediscovered: The Reinstallation of the Aksum Obelisk", the exhibition features films and photographs documenting key moments of the re-installation built around a structure which recreates the exact volume of the 23.4 metre high stele. Also present were Madam Tadelech Haile-Mikael, Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of Ethiopia to UNESCO and Mr Giuseppe Moscato, Ambassador and Permanent of Italy to UNESCO.

23 April

• International Training Workshop for French-speaking Heritage Site Managers : Results
  The ParisTech Center for Arts and Crafts of Cluny, within the framework of Heritage Training, has the pleasure of sending you a press release - April 2009 - about the results of the International intensiveTraining Workshop for French-speaking heritage site managers, under the auspices of UNESCO World Heritage Centre.

22 April

• Invitation to the Abbey of Fontevraud - Inauguration of the installation “Invisible hands” by Solweig von KLEIST - 25 April, 2009
  In the center of the Saint-Benoît Chapel, three immense fabrics unroll the 192 drawings by the artist Solweig von Kleist during his in Fontevraud in 2008. At the bottom of this installation, the characters cheer up to create an animation film.

21 April

• UNESCO presents exhibition on reconstruction of Aksum obelisk
  An exhibition - photographs and a video installation - at UNESCO will celebrate the reinstallation of the Aksum obelisk. The show will give visitors a chance to learn about the history of the Ethiopian site and to view the key stages of reinstalling the monument, 24 metres high and weighing 150 tons. Open to the public from 4 to 15 May (9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.), the exhibition will be inaugurated on 23 April by Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, in the presence of the Ethiopian and Italian ambassadors to UNESCO, Tadelech Haile Mikael and Giuseppe Moscato.

• WHTour: 1001 Wonders - Aksum (Ethiopia)
  1001wonders.org (formerly world-heritage-tour.org) is listing 1001 cultural and natural sites around the world and is documenting them in panophotographies - immersive and interactive panoramic images. Today 270 sites have been visited : 248 are available on this web site, 22 are currently in post-production and will soon be uploaded. Altogether there are 2048 panophotographies. This project is building a museum atlas which is interactive, immersive, without border and for educational purposes. It is also a testimony and a documentary inventory of natural and cultural sites to future generations.

17 April

• UNESCO presents exhibition on reconstruction of Aksum obelisk
  An exhibition - photographs and a video installation - at UNESCO will celebrate the reinstallation of the Aksum obelisk. The show will give visitors a chance to learn about the history of the Ethiopian site and to view the key stages of reinstalling the monument, 24 metres high and weighing 150 tons. Open to the public from 4 to 15 May (9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.), the exhibition will be inaugurated on 23 April by Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, in the presence of the Ethiopian and Italian ambassadors to UNESCO, Tadelech Haile Mikael and Giuseppe Moscato.

• World Heritage Centre signs agreement with INRAP for site conservation
  On 2 April 2009 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris Mr Francesco Bandarin, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, signed an agreement with INRAP, the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Institut national de recherches archéologiques preventives). The Letter of Intent was signed by Mrs Nicole Pot, Director of INRAP and Mr Jean-Paul Jacob, President of the Institute, was also in attendance...

15 April

• Kenya World Heritage Sites in 360º
• <WHTour.org>: Mount Kenya National Park/Natural Forest
• <WHTour.org>: Lake Turkana National Parks
  1001wonders.org (formerly world-heritage-tour.org) is listing 1001 cultural and natural sites around the world and is documenting them in panophotographies - immersive and interactive panoramic images. Today 270 sites have been visited : 248 are available on this web site, 22 are currently in post-production and will soon be uploaded. Altogether there are 2048 panophotographies. This project is building a museum atlas which is interactive, immersive, without border and for educational purposes. It is also a testimony and a documentary inventory of natural and cultural sites to future generations.

• Monuments of Nubia, past and future
  In 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan asked UNESCO for assistance in safeguarding monuments that the construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened to submerge. This inspired a major campaign by UNESCO to safeguard cultural heritage. The success of the Campaign inspired the development and adoption in 1972 of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention and the inscription of sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List on which the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae were inscribed in 1979. To mark the 50th anniversary of the appeal to save the monuments of Nubia, UNESCO’s office in Cairo organized a conference in cooperation with the Egyptian and Sudanese ministries of culture.

• World Heritage Rainforests in Madagascar threatened by illegal logging and trafficking of precious wood
  UNESCO was recently informed of two serious threats at the Marojejy and Masoala national parks in the north of Madagascar, which are part of the recently inscribed Rainforests of Atisnanana World Heritage site. Inscribed on the World Heritage List in June 2007 during the 31st session of the World Heritage Committee, the site is composed of six national parks (Marojejy, Masoala, Zahamena, Ranomafana, Andringitra and Andohahela) that include all of the exceptional biodiversity of the eastern rainforest of the Great Island. The endemic rate of species there is close to 80%, making this World Heritage site a unique area for its biodiversity.

• The world in my hand (Uzbekistan)
  “The man makes [a] journey through time every day. Travel to the past is our memory. And travel to the future is our dream,” said Anonymous. My life is constantly in movement. The person is arranged in such a manner that he/she learns about the world through communication, studying different sciences, mastering new trades and acquiring various skills. When I visit a new, unfamiliar place I always communicate with people. I get information directly from them. Read more at UNESCO Bangkok Newsletter Nº 18 - page 21

• Joint efforts for the preservation of World Heritage in Mozambique. Dutch and the Flemish Governments join Japan, UCCLA and Portugal in financing the San Sebastian Fortress rehabilitation project
  On 18 December 2008, the Government of Mozambique and UNESCO signed two plans of operation for projects funded by the Netherlands and Flanders Funds-in-Trusts supporting the rehabilitation of the San Sebastian Fortress. Since its inscription on the World Heritage List in 1991, Ilha de Moçambique has suffered continuous decay to the extent that today many buildings are threatened with collapse. Therefore, the international community has been called upon to support the State Party in its efforts to preserve its World Heritage. Japan, UCCLA and Portugal financed the initial phase of the rehabilitation project of the San Sebastian Fortress, one of Mozambique's most emblematic monuments originating from the 16th century. It is one of the most complex current activities for the preservation of Ilha's built heritage. Flanders and the Netherlands now ensure the continuation of the works until May 2009.

• Historic Cities and Urban Settlements Initiative
  Historic urban settlements are a unique reflection of the capacity of humankind to socially structure and organize space. Today, 242 cities or urban settlements are registered on the UNESCO World Heritage list, representing the diverse responses to the specific geographic and socio-economic conditions by local populations. There is little question that exponential evolution and growth and uncontrolled changes put the integrity and authenticity of historic cities and urban settlements—and values that are embedded in them—at risk. At a time of rapid urbanization and globalization, the conservation of historic cities is one of the most urgent and difficult challenges facing the field of heritage conservation. The task extends beyond the preservation of the architecture and landscape, and requires the careful management of change through adaptation of historic buildings and urban fabric to new forms of living, evolving land uses, and consideration of intangible heritage that contributes to the city's cultural significance...

• Greenland Students visit UNESCO to learn about World Heritage, the Arctic and Climate Change
  18 students from Greenland visited the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on 16 March 2009 to learn more about World Heritage, the Arctic and climate change. They were briefed about the expert workshop on World Heritage and the Arctic (Narvik, Norway, 2007), received a copy of the proceedings which were published in 2008 thanks to the generous support of the Prince Albert II Foundation of Monaco and the collaboration between the World Heritage Centre, the Nordic World Heritage Foundation and UNEP/Grid Arendal. They also learnt about the results of the recent International Expert Meeting UNESCO organized in Monaco from 3 to 6 March on "Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development: scientific, social, cultural and educational challenges".

• Tanzania World Heritage Sites in 360º
• <WHTour.org>: Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara
• <WHTour.org>: Kondoa Rock-Art Sites
  1001wonders.org (formerly world-heritage-tour.org) is listing 1001 cultural and natural sites around the world and is documenting them in panophotographies - immersive and interactive panoramic images. Today 270 sites have been visited : 248 are available on this web site, 22 are currently in post-production and will soon be uploaded. Altogether there are 2048 panophotographies. This project is building a museum atlas which is interactive, immersive, without border and for educational purposes. It is also a testimony and a documentary inventory of natural and cultural sites to future generations.

• Celebrated monastery saved from ruin. (Tajikistan)
  The seventh century Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tepa in Tajikistan is back in shape. Abandoned and left to deteriorate, Ajina Tepa, or Devil Mount is one of the most celebrated Buddhist monasteries in Central Asia, famed for its role in spreading Buddhism in the region in the seventh and eighth centuries. The site is a sophisticated blend of earthen architectural forms, sculptural detail and wall painting decoration, all of which are unique. “Being one of the most representative Buddhist complexes in Central Asia, it is on the priority list of potential sites to be nominated to UNESCO’s World Heritage List from the Republic of Tajikistan”, said Yuri Peshkov, Culture Specialist at the UNESCO Office in Almaty. Read more at UNESCO Bangkok Newsletter Nº 18 - page 18

1 April

• 50th anniversary of Nubia Campaign
  UNESCO, Egypt and Sudan have started commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Nubia Campaign, a defining example of international solidarity when countries understood the universal nature of heritage and the universal importance of its conservation. The Egyptian and Sudanese governments’ request - in April and October 1959 respectively - for UNESCO’s help to save the 3,000-year-old monuments and temples of ancient Nubia from an area that was to be flooded by the Aswan Dam marked the start of unprecedented campaign. See too the UNESCO Courier 2009 - Number 3