12 January

• Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch, and Alexandra Cousteau Climbing Kilimanjaro
  Environmental activists and celebrities have embarked on a week long trek up Mount Kilimajnaro (13,640 ft) in Tanzania to raise global awareness of the clean water crisis. Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of the legendary Jacques-Yves Cousteau, explorer, and activist--whom you may recognize from Planet Green's Blue August or TreeHuggerTV--is joined by actors Emile Hirsch, Jessica Biel, Isabel Lucas; singers Kenna--the mastermind behind the climb--and Lupe Fiasco, and others are climbing high for a Summit on the Summit.
  More information: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/jessica-biel-emile-hirsch-and-alexandra-cousteau-climbing-kilimanjaro-day-5.php

• Signing of the Rehabilitation Fund Agreement
  The signing of the Rehabilitation Fund Agreement in the Old City of Damascus will take place on Wednesday, January 13th 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in the Directorate of the Old City located at the Palace of Culture (Maktab Anbar).
  The agreement is between the Governorate of Damascus and two separate financial institutions: the Savings Bank of Syria and the First MicroFinance Institution FMFI-Syria...
  More information: http://www.udp-syria.org/?id=207

• A LONGER LIFE - In the Galápagos Islands, a new technology is protecting species, promoting the tourism economy and saving lives – all in a day’s work
  According to Scott Henderson, the Regional Marine Program Coordinator for Conservation International’s (CI) Eastern Tropical Pacific Seascape program, "the successful implementation of this system in Galápagos captures the essence of what CI hopes to achieve in Galápagos and the wider seascape: find ways to optimize the effectiveness of scarce financial resources, leverage the complementary strengths of a range of partners led by national and local authorities, and protect the marine environment, both for the good of the ocean and the local communities that depend on it."
  More information: http://www.conservation.org/FMG/Articles/Pages/a_longer_life_galapagos.aspx

• Neumünster Abbey in Luxembourg became a Cultural Center
  Neumünster Abbey is one of the city of Luxembourg's most important historic sites but sadly we only have fragmentary evidence of its history. Hopefully this brief outline of its development will prompt historians to probe further...
  More information: http://www.ccrn.lu/EN/abbaye.php?ID=210&LA=EN

11 January

• South-West World Heritage Sites join forces for interactive sustainable transport map
  Four of the South-West's most breathtaking nature areas, including the famous Jurrasic Coast, are hoping to make travel to the heritage sites easier than ever with a new website. World Heritage Sites the City of Bath, the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, the Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon and Stonehenge and Avebury will be positioned on an interactive map highlighting ways to circumnavigate them on sustainable transport.
  More information: http://www.culture24.org.uk/science+%26+nature/art74728

5 January

• A new baby is born in Nkuringo family
  Five months after two babies were born in the newly habituated Nshongi gorilla family in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, another baby has been born to the Nkuringo gorilla family in the same park. The baby who has already been named Kiiza is in good health, and so is its mother, Mama X-mas. As is the case with all baby gorillas, the sex of the new baby has not yet been established. The baby clings to the mother all the time, and mostly keeps out of site. Mama X-mas is famous for being the first gorilla among the habituated groups to bear twins in 2005, although one of them died three days after birth.
  More information: http://www.ugandawildlife.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141:a-new-baby-is-born-in-nkuringo-family&catid=35:news-and-annoucements&Itemid=116

• New discoveries to science from Kew Royal Botanic Gardens (United Kingdom)
  Over the last 250 years, Kew has made many discoveries about the fascinating worlds of plants and fungi. This work continues today and includes numerous new species discovered and described each year by our world-class scientists and their collaborators. Giant rainforest trees, rare and beautiful orchids, spectacular palms, minute fungi, wild coffees and an ancient aquatic plant are among more than 250 new plant and fungi species discovered and described in 2009, Kew’s 250th anniversary year. It is not widely known that 2,000 new plant species are discovered worldwide each year and Kew’s botanists, in collaboration with their partners worldwide, make a very significant contribution to this total.
  More information: http://www.kew.org/science/new-discoveries/

• Germany gives 3.2 million dollars for the safeguarding of Ivorian parcs and reserves
  Germany has just offered the Côte d'Ivoire's Park and Reserves Foundation 1,5 billion CFA Francs (US$ 3.2 millions). According to Mr Stephen Keller, German Ambassador in Côte d'Ivoire, this donation is justified by the fact that "the Ivorian parks and reserves, including Taï which will benefit from this funding, have a rich biodiversity that needs protection." The Taï National Park, situated in the South-West of the Côte d'Ivoire, is one of the most important African forests. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982 as it is one of the last major remnants of the primary tropical forest of West Africa. This park provides us with the opportunity to preserve the genetic reservoir of a complex forest ecosystem. Its rich natural flora and threatened mammal species, such as the pygmy hippopotamus and eleven species of monkeys, are of great scientific interest.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/576

4 January

• The Monastery of the Augustines, a place of living memory - Construction logbook, Review of an innovative project
  The Place of Living Memory inhabited by the Augustine nuns has shifted from the initial phase of project to that of performance. The construction logbook allows us to follow the progression of this vast enterprise that includes, in particular, the restoration of the Monastery of the Hotel-Dieu of Quebec. The section “Review of an innovative project” shows the Place of Living Memory inhabited by the Augustines. Thanks for your visit. In order to start with the restoration works in the Monastery of the Hospital of Quebec, it is necessary to first empty the building. Since the origins of the Monastery up to now, more than 30.000 items have been stored there. The responsible team is following the different task stages under the supervision of Catherine Gaumond, conservationist of the Place of Living Memory inhabited by the Augustines. In order to follow the course in eight phases for each item, from the wardrobe to its packaging.
  More information in French: http://www.augustines.ca/

• Belgium reinforces its engagement for World Heritage Sites in Danger in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  The Belgian government has recently given its financial support to the 3rd phase of the project "Biodiversity Conservation in Regions of Armed Conflict: Conserving World Heritage sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo" with a total amount of 2 million Euros. The five World Heritage Sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, National Parks Virunga, Kahuzi-Biega, Garamba and Salonga, and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve have been progressively inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger ever since the outbreak of the Great Lakes conflict in 1994 and because of its impact on the value for which the sites were inscribed on the World Heritage List. In 1999, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) along with a group of international NGOs, launched an appeal to the International Community to establish a Program for Emergencies designed to safeguard the unique biodiversity of the DRC's World Heritage sites.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/577

• Beijing Appeal for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change at World Heritage properties in the Asia and the Pacific region
  National Government Officials and World Heritage site managers, essentially from 24 countries in the Asia and the Pacific Region, but also from other continents of the world, gathered together at the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research for the Asia and the Pacific Region (WHITRAP, China) and participated in an Asia-Pacific Regional Training Workshop on Assessment of Vulnerability of Cultural and Natural World Heritage Properties to Disasters and Climate Change. This Training Workshop was held from 6 to 12 December 2009 at Peking University of China, and was organized jointly by the World Heritage Centre, ICCROM and WHITRAP.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/578

18 December

• The Galapagos Islands - Biodiversity on the brink
  Many of us first read about the Galápagos Islands in a high school biology text book. Charles Darwin's famous theory of evolution was inspired by his visit to one of the largest, most complex, most diverse, and best preserved ocean archipelagos on earth. Because of its outstanding and universal value, the Galápagos Islands were fittingly designated as our planet's first World Heritage site in 1978. Now, imagine the Galápagos Islands through the eyes of Charles Darwin in 1835. On his arrival, Darwin wrote that he had entered a "world unto itself," teeming with species found nowhere else on Earth such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise, and many types of finches. Darwin found a world of specialized creatures that had adapted to their harsh environment in an amazing variety of ways, and an ideal laboratory. Now regarded as one of the most famous few weeks in the history of science, it was here that Darwin found the perfect conditions to formulate his evolutionary theory.
  More information: http://www.unfoundation.org/our-impact/preserving-world-heritage/galapagos-islands-biodiversity-on-the-brink.html

• Patrimonito's world heritage adventures; episode 7: Patrimonito In Australia: climate change and the Great Barrier Reef (DVD)
  In 2002 a cartoon series entitled Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures was launched where Patrimonito introduces World Heritage sites, the threats they are facing and proposes solutions to preserve them. Storyboards were chosen following a competition among secondary school pupils to raise their awareness of the importance of World Heritage and their role in preserving it. The competition was organized by UNESCO on the occasion of the celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in 2002. The selected storyboards are professionally animated and produced in CD-ROM format for global diffusion to schools and at World Heritage Youth events. The cartoon films are based on storyboards made ‘by young people for young people' are proving to be useful teaching support materials. They are becoming popular at events held by UNESCO.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/patrimonito/

• Restoration works continue despite violent storms at the Great Mosque of Djenné (Mali)
  Restoration works begun on the site the Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali in January 2009, financed by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, continue with traditional masons and consolidation works to ensure the survival of this exceptional but fragile example of earthen architecture, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988. The conclusion of the state of conservation of the site quickly made clear the need for general consolidation: despite the remarkable annual plastering campaigns which have maintained the laterite mud surfaces of the façades and roofing, the structure of the monument erected in 1907 is showing signs of weakness.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/574

17 December

• AFRICA 2009 - Marie France Adolphe's retirement
  Marie France Adolphe will retire on 31 December 2009, end of the Africa 2009 programme. She has been the administrative assistant of the two long-term programs of ICCROM: PREMA and Africa 2009. She has served African cultural heritage for nearly 25 years. ICCROM will organize for her a farewell party in January 2010. Any message, postcard, photographs etc. is welcome before January, 5 in order to give a special touch to this small party. Send you reply to Ms. Sonia Widmer at ICCROM (sw@iccrom.org)
  More information: http://www.africa2009.net/

• UNESCO guarantees support for implementation of cultural projects
  The expert in culture of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Damir Dijakovic, guaranteed in Luanda the total availability of the institution to support projects of the Angolan Ministry of Culture, based on staff training. Speaking about projects presented by Ministry to Culture to UNESCO, Damir Dijakovic, affirmed that everything will be carried out for the implementation of projects aimed at guaranteeing that Angolans benefit from the existing cultural beauties of the country. To Damir Dijakovic, the preservation of Angola's cultural heritage is important since it enables to preserve people's identity. “The protection should involve all sectors of the Angolan society", he assured. On the classification of Mbanza Kongo, Xitundu Hulu and Kwanza Basin as world cultural heritage of humanity, the source stated that they are being assessed, although it is a long processs. “The technicians are working in these sites with the help of UNESCO and as soon it is completed, surely, Angola might see them on the list of world cultural heritage”, said.
  More information: http://www.awhf.net/

16 December

• News from OUR PLACE World Heritage
  OUR PLACE has a number of new initiatives planned for next year, all of them continuing our efforts to promote the World's Heritage to the world's citizens. We are looking forward to announcing a major new exhibition format as well as some exciting additions to our website. We are always pleased to receive your feedback at OUR PLACE - together we can celebrate Our Place on Our Planet.
  More information: http://www.salemaker.co.nz/smaker/smmailview.asp?t=86273&b=20761

15 December

• Promemoria: 17 e 20 dicembre celebrazione Firenze Patrimonio dell'Umanità UNESCO
  Il 17 e il 20 dicembre Firenze celebra l'inserimento del Centro Storico nella lista del Patrimonio Mondiale dell'UNESCO. Il programma (in allegato) prenderà avvio con la giornata del 17 dicembre - organizzata dal Centro UNESCO di Firenze - alle ore 9,30 in Palazzo Vecchio nella Sala de'Dugento e, sempre in Palazzo Vecchio nel Salone dei Cinquecento, durante l'intera giornata del 20 dicembre in occasione dell'iniziativa "Il Palazzo dei Fiorentini" saranno presentati alcuni dei progetti più rilevanti che coinvolgono l'UNESCO a Firenze.
  More information: http://unesco.comune.fi.it/

14 December

• Invitation to the ASAV General Assembly Association of the Volubilis Site Friends (Morocco)
  The Association of the Volubilis Site Friends celebrated its yearly General Assembly on Saturday 19th December 2009 at 10:30 at the House of Culture Moulay Idriss Zerhoun. The agenda included the presentation of the moral and financial reports, the selection of a new site for the office for the next two years and the official announcement that some cultural protagonists were to be awarded the status of honour members because of their contributions to the site of Volubilis. The Association of the Volubilis Site Friends was created on June, 21st 2006 and its aims are to contribute to the conservation of the site of Volubilis, to make it well-known and to defend it by strengthening efforts and the work carried out by the administration of the Volubilis site.
  More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/836

Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit now available in Spanish
The publication 'World Heritage Paper Series n°23 - Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit, Assessing management effectiveness of natural World Heritage sites' is now available in Spanish. This document provides several tools to assist site managers or other stakeholders in identifying World Heritage site values and threats; in assessing management needs and processes, assessing outputs and many other aspects of managing heritage sites. The Toolkit is also available in English and French. For more information, write to wh-info@unesco.org, or consult the link below, where the documents can also be downloaded.
English version: http://whc.unesco.org/en/series/23/
French version: http://whc.unesco.org/fr/documents/102627/
More information: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/573

Interim report: Compilation of Case Studies for the Conservation and Management of Historic Cities
"Historic Cities in Development: Keys to Understanding and Taking Action”
The presentation of the interim report in the plenary of the World Congress in Quito was a resounding success thanks to the commitment of the contributing cities and to the work of the Steering Committee coordinated by the City of Lyon. This work of the exchange of know-how and the transfer of experience has developed a dynamic within the Organization that should be continued until the next World Congress in Sintra (Portugal) in 2011. In this perspective, you can contact the City of Lyon to propose a contribution by your city or to obtain more comprehensive information. Contact: bruno.delas@mairie-lyon.fr
http://www.ovpm.org/index.php?module=ovpm&func=news&pid=75

World Heritage Review n°54 - Astronomy and World Heritage
IN FOCUS

• Astronomy and World Heritage
  Astronomical heritage, or cultural heritage relating to the sky, recognizes the relationships between humanity and the cosmos.
• From the Maya to the Inca and beyond
  These ancient cultures confronted their particular vision of the universe.
• The heritage of Galileo
  400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s first astronomical use of a telescope.
• Teaching laboratories for positional astronomy: The Jantar Mantar Observatories of India
  Jantar Mantar instruments bring basic astronomy to life.
• Starlight Reserves and World Heritage: Scientific, cultural and environmental values
  Enjoying an unpolluted night sky as an inalienable right of humankind.
• Astronomy and World Heritage Education at Suzhou
  Educational activities were organized in line with the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
• Recognizing science and technology at World Heritage sites
  Great advances in science and technology are recognized on the World Heritage List, through such sites as the Mountain Railways of India and Varberg Radio station.
• Charles Darwin and the Galápagos: The evolution of a legacy
  2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/review/54/