Covid-19’s impact on UNESCO’s 1,121 World Heritage Sites
As of July, 72 countries have closed their natural, historical, and cultural sites totally.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many governments have taken measures to restrict movements of people and access to certain areas. This includes the total or partial closure of many natural, historical, and cultural UNESCO World Heritage sites in the 167 countries they are located in.
UNESCO, the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has launched the global map on the closure of World Heritage sites due to Covid-19 and analysis.
The map displaying the 167 States Parties with World Heritage properties show that, as of mid-July, 72 (or 43%) countries have closed sites totally, whereas 54 (33%) countries kept their sites open.
For 41 countries (24%) partial closure has been indicated, which includes countries that are re-opening World Heritage places slowly after the crisis.
Facts about the World Heritage Sites and Covid19:
- The World Heritage Convention has been ratified by 193 States Parties but only 167 countries have properties on UNESCO’s World Heritage List;
- The List includes a total of 1,121 natural, historic, and cultural World Heritage sites;
- In some countries with federal systems there may be a different approach for certain areas within the country;
- For some types of sites such as city centers, urban ensembles, or agricultural landscapes access to certain public areas may still be possible, while other parts of the site may be closed, including site museums, visitor centers, religious, or emblematic and historical buildings;
- For some countries, sites are being re-opened, such as in China;
- While sites are closed, monitoring activities by site management may continue, especially for natural sites, including by anti-poaching units, monitoring by satellite images or drones and emergency interventions, for example in case of fires.
About Adventures in Preservation (AiP)
Adventures in Preservation (AiP) is a non-profit connecting people and preservation through enriching cultural heritage travel and hands-on education. AiP was founded in 2001 by two women with a great love of historic buildings and a strong desire to travel and understand the world. While perusing the travel section of the Boulder Bookstore, the Volunteer Vacation section suddenly brought everything into focus. Judith Broeker and Jamie Donahoe combined their goal of saving historic buildings with the concept of experiential travel, and created AiP’s hands-on preservation vacations.
Work started on several sites in the U.S., and as word spread, requests for help began to pour in from around the world, underscoring the great potential of using volunteers to restore historic buildings. In supporting community-based preservation initiatives, we discovered that our love of old buildings could translate into environmental and economic sustainability for communities.
AiP is picking up the pace! As our hands-on experiential travel becomes more popular, we have new projects, new partners and initiatives to keep you excited and involved.
