The Latest Breaking News from World Heritage

Oshino Hakkai Coin-Tossing Problem: 50,000 coins threaten clear springs; village adds donation box

Oshino Hakkai's serene spring ponds are under pressure as visitors toss coins into the waters, with around 50,000 coins already collected by authorities due to concerns over environmental damage from metal corrosion. This increase in coin tossing coincided with Mount Fuji’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013.

The Times of India · Sep 8

Barclays faces complaint over backing for power plant near world’s largest mangrove forest

Bangladeshi complainants allege Rampal power station’s pollution and climate risks threaten the Sunderbans, a world heritage site

The Guardian - UK · Sep 2

Bird flu could devastate Macquarie Island. Why are we removing the scientists we need to understand it?

Australia’s Macquarie Island lies deep in the Southern Ocean, about 1,500 kilometres southeast of Tasmania. This World Heritage-listed sanctuary is a haven for species such as elephant and fur seals, penguins, albatrosses and petrels, and a key site for wildlife researchers.

The Conversation · Sep 1

Dholavira Is Still Empty, and That Is the Only Reason You Should Go to This UNESCO Harappan Site Now

The city that outlasted everything except being knownDholavira has been standing, in one form or another, for five thousand years. It outlasted the civilisation that built it. It outlasted the river that fed it. It outlasted the scholarship that ignored it for decades while Mohenjo-daro and Harappa collected all the…

Times Life · Aug 11

Seven Ancient Stepwells Across India That Rival Adalaj in Architecture and Heritage

Rani ki Vav, Patan, GujaratRani ki Vav has 800 sculpted panels descending seven storeys into the earth, and UNESCO put it on the World Heritage list in 2014 for exactly that reason. Queen Udayamati commissioned it in the 11th century as a memorial to her husband, King Bhimdev I of…

Times Life · Aug 6

'Missing Link' misgivings

Out of the blue, the Anutin government has made an abrupt policy U-turn by announcing it will abandon the 1-trillion-baht Land Bridge project.

Bangkok Post · Jul 30

Chad to withdraw from International Criminal Court

In tonight's edition: Chad is pulling out of the International Criminal Court, accusing it of bias against Africa. Also, in Madagascar, nearly 200 people have been reported missing this year. Finally, centuries-old medinas in the Comoros have gained UNESCO World Heritage status.

France 24 · Jul 28

Meet Miranda Gibson: The woman who lived in a tree for 449 days to save Tasmania’s ancient forests in one of Australia’s longest tree protests

Deep in Tasmania’s forests, one woman turned a single tree into the centre of a global conservation campaign. In 2011, Miranda Gibson climbed high into the canopy of the Tyenna Forest and began a protest that would last 449 days. Living on a small platform above the ground, she faced…

The Times of India · Jul 28

Brazil's Amazonia theatres earn World Heritage status

BRASíLIA - Unesco on Monday added Brazil's Theatro da Paz and Teatro Amazonas to its World Heritage list.

Bangkok Post · Jul 28

Britain's Largest Telescope Faces Axe as Scientists Warn Jodrell Bank Cuts Are 'National Self-Harm'

Jodrell Bank Observatory, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, risks closure by 2028 due to funding cuts, threatening its role in UK radio astronomy and impacting thousands of scientists.

International Business Times UK · Jul 27