World Heritage

IUCN: Climate change top threat to natural World Heritage

IUCN: Climate change top threat to natural World Heritage

33% of natural World Heritage sites are threatened by climate change and climate change is now the biggest threat to natural World Heritage, according to a report published on December 2nd by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).

Saving the Rock Art of the Blue Mountains

Saving the Rock Art of the Blue Mountains

There are thousands of sites of pigment art, stencils and engravings across the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, known only to a handful of Indigenous people, bushwalkers and archaeologists. The summer bushfires exposed these artefacts and the race is now on to save them from neglect.

Fire recovery updates from the Federal Dept. of the Environment

Fire recovery updates from the Federal Dept. of the Environment

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley, and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment are sharing regular updates on their bushfire recovery strategies, including their wildlife rescue interventions, via the following links.

Murujuga World Heritage nomination

Murujuga World Heritage nomination

A decades-long campaign to secure a World Heritage listing for Australia’s largest collection of rock art has finally been taken to UNESCO. The Murujuga cultural landscape in Western Australia, containing over a million petroglyphs, has now made it to the Tentative World Heritage list.

Grave fears for rock art sites after fires

 Grave fears for rock art sites after fires

An important rock art site, thought to be at least 500 years old, has been discovered after being irretrievably damaged by bushfire, with grave fears held for thousands of other sites. Some of the art at the site was known but not fully documented. Fire also destroyed a nearby undocumented site.

Climate change impact on world heritage sites

Climate change impact on world heritage sites

Google has launched a new tool that allows anyone to monitor the impacts of climate change at five of the world's most precious cultural sites. The project, "Heritage on the Edge," uses 3D mapping and other tools to capture images of World Heritage Sites that can be used for conservation.

We need a vision for our environment

We need a vision for our environment

Dr. Jack Pascoe, who completed his PhD on Apex Predators in the GBMWHA under the supervision of Dr Rosalie Chapple, writes in the Guardian on the need for a vision for our environment, for the species and ecosystems it will support, and how our communities will sit within these environments.