Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was recognized as UNESCO World Heritage site. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By LU Zijian

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance collaboration on applying space technologies to monitor, conserve and protect natural World Heritage sites was signed on July 7, between UNESCO International Centre on Space Technologies for Natural and Cultural Heritage (HIST) hosted by Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Under the MoU, a formal framework for cooperation has been agreed and will be realized through institutional programs, research projects and capacity development activities focused on applying the latest earth observation technology and tools for World Heritage research and conservation.

Both institutions are committed to advancing five priority areas to collaborate: World Heritage nomination research and analyses, provision of high quality satellite data for monitoring World Heritage, improving and updating a global spatial database on natural World Heritage sites, and capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Many natural World Heritage sites are facing threats and are in need of accurate and up-to-date monitoring to improve protection and management. Space technologies, and in particular satellite -based earth observation, have an important role in this effort through their capacity on remotely monitoring key characteristics of the environment, such as land use change which can often be seen at a global scale.

"By signing both agreements, HIST and IUCN forge a comprehensive strategic partnership for the conservation of natural World Heritage sites and convey a very strong signal to the world that we are united to offer global public goods and services in support of the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, as well as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," said Prof. Guo Huadong, director of HIST.

"This collaboration will greatly improve and strengthen IUCN's capacities in this critical area, and will also reinforce China's global leadership in World Heritage," said Dr. Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director General.

A supplemental agreement under the MoU specifying concrete actions in the aforementioned areas of collaboration for the 2022-2023 period was also signed at the meeting.

This joint work will support the implementation of the World Heritage Convention which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.