A section of Lijiang Old Town, a former GHF Project, was destroyed March 11th by a fire that broke out around 8:30pm. No casualties have been reported, but the damage does mean significant economic loss for the region, one of China's most popular domestic tourist destinations.



More on the fire in Lijiang: …

The People's Government of Pingyao County and UNESCO have, in association with Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning and Design Institute, Global Heritage Fund and others, just released a detailed set of conservation guidelines. They are comprised of a system of practical instructions for the preservation and restoration of Pingyao's historic dwellings, and were developed in order to better protect the World Heritage of the ancient city of Pingyao with its traditional residential courtyards and…

By Emma Cunliffe, November 2012

Aleppo under threat: Shellings of an ancient khan in the old town of Aleppo (Video source: Le patrimoine archéologique syrien en danger Facebook group)

As one of the landmarks of Middle Eastern culture since ancient times, Syria is home to some of…

The monumental site of Göbekli Tepe in Southern Turkey is the focus of one Global Heritage Fund's largest conservation projects. Below are a few of the latest accomplishments of the project.…

The historic covered market (souk), "is one of the centrepieces of Aleppo's Old City, listed by the UN cultural organisation as a world heritage site since 1986. With more than 1,550…

GHN has continued to grow at a fast pace in 2012! There are now more than 1000 members representing nearly 100 countries, and the number of discussion groups has grown to 98, including many new thematic groups focused on topics such as Cultural Resources Management (CRM) and conservation of stone,…

A new article describes how the ancient site of Mahasthangarh is threatened by the removal of original bricks for use as building materials in modern structures. In addition, looting is also a major threat to this important site.

Click here for the full news article, and please …

The Citadel in Aleppo - once was full of tourists, now there are only soldiers and tanks. The Citadel is partly destroyed, as clearly evidenced by this video:

Please share with your friends and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter using the buttons below to help spread the word about the serious damage to Syria's priceless cultural heritage sites…

The 36th Session of UNESCO earlier this summer saw the inscription of 26 new heritage sites in total (20 Cultural, 5 Natural & 1 Mixed). Below is a list of the these new inscriptions that were added to the GHN Sites Database (Cultural Heritage sites residing in the Developing World):…

We are happy to announce the arrival of a new intern, Jeannie Sui Wonders, who will be actively engaged in the GHN Community.

Jeannie will be entering her sophomore year at Harvard University where she is studying Archaeology, and additionally works at the Corpus of Maya Hieroglyphic Inscriptions at the Peabody…

GHN is honored to be featured on the World Archaeological Congress (WAC) website and in their latest Newsletter.

Click here to visit GHN on the WAC…

Following the revolution in Egypt during the Arab Spring of 2011, the country has in many ways become destabilized.  One negative effect of this situation has been the increased vulnerability of cultural heritage sites around the country (especially remote sites with little protection) to looters and vandals. The ancient Egyptian city of El Hibeh, in what is today the governorate of Beni Suef, has been particularly ravaged by…

Click here to read a summary of the recent conservation workshop held in Pachacamac, Peru, in which GHF participated.…

GHN member and Durham University PhD student Emma Cunliffe has prepared a comprehensive summary of the known damage to cultural heritage sites in Syria. Titled “Damage to the Soul:  Syria’s Cultural Heritage in Conflict,” the report draws from a number of sources to present a picture of the destruction – from looting to shelling – that is afflicting cultural heritage sites as a result of the ongoing conflict in the country.…

On Sunday, April 1^st, 2012, Tuareg rebels took control of Timbuktu and now control roughly one third of the country of Mali. The three great mosques - Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia – plus the associated cemeteries and mausolea that comprise the UNESCO World Heritage Site are threatened by this recent destabilization. In addition, Timbuktu houses over 700,000 ancient manuscripts whose security and protection is now in doubt as a result of this conflict.…

GHN Heritage Hero Emma Cunliffe (Durham University, UK) has just updated GHN with timely articles and videos that outline the latest damage to various important cultural heritage sites across Syria during the ongoing conflict there.…

In February of 2011, the ancient Roman bath complex of Allianoi was completely inundated with water following the construction of the Yortanlı Dam and the subsequent flooding of its reservoir.…

Announcing a number of exciting discussion groups recently added on GHN Community:

Plain of Jars, Laos…

We are pleased to announce a few key changes to GHN that will make GHN even easier to use!

• Addition of a Documentation tab in the Site Panel, bringing all site-related content to one place…