Asia & The Pacific
Ah, summer. Time to enjoy the long days of sunlight with outdoor picnics, paddling, and swims in lakes and pools. In this second season of the year, we take in lots of fresh air—and apply lots of sunscreen.
Videos
Encircled in mists and surrounded by emerald, forested slopes, the long-ago Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru wears an even heavier cloak of mystery. Although this World Heritage site, built on a mountaintop in the Andes, was discovered more than 100 years ago, archaeologists have yet to unravel the reason for its existence.
Conservation
Belize is fringed by a vibrant expanse of living coral, known as the Mesoamerican Reef System. It’s a Caribbean underwater paradise—a snorkeler’s dream and an endangered sea turtle’s lifeline. Stretching from Mexico to Guatemala, this is the world’s second largest reef system.
Conservation
The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System. The Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. These are just three of the 238 natural and mixed (cultural and natural) sites designated as World Heritage by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. And all three are threatened by human development.
Videos
The Great Barrier Reef, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site located on the northeast coast of Australia, was surprisingly absent in a report on climate change published earlier this year.
Nature & Wildlife
Earlier this year, the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report on climate change titled World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate.
News & More
It’s the day after Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer season. While the summer solstice is still a ways to go—June 20—after Memorial Day, vacations start and movie production companies bring out what they hope will be their “summer blockbusters.”
Nature & Wildlife
Nearly half – 114 out of 229 – of all natural World Heritage sites are threatened by harmful industrial activities, according to a new WWF report. However, millions of people rely on these sites and its natural resources for basic human needs such as water, food and shelter.
Conservation
Most of us who care about the environment, wildlife and our most precious places are familiar with depressing lists, such as the federal Endangered Species List, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) List of World Heritage in…
Nature & Wildlife
Northern Botswana’s Okavango Delta was recently inscribed as the 1,000th UNESCO World Heritage Site, among the ranks of 26 other extraordinary places including India’s Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, the Phillipines’ Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary, and Denmark’s Stevns Klint geological site.
News & More
“Extinction tourism” is a familiar term when it comes to wildlife and natural habitats: it’s described as a desire to see the animals and landscapes that are just managing to hang on before they’re gone.
News & More
The spike in illegal wildlife trade continues: in 2013, poachers killed 1,004 rhinos in South Africa alone; and in 2012, some 15,000 elephants were slaughtered at 42 sites across 27 African countries, according to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
