Preserving Legacies Adds 11 New Heritage Sites to Global Climate Adaptation Programme
Preserving Legacies: A Future for our Past welcomes a new cohort of heritage sites and custodians across the world to work together to ensure their places of cultural significance are protected from climate change impacts and allowing us to continue to learn from our past and inspire our future.
With climate change as their fastest growing threat, not only is their physical integrity at risk of erosion, but so are the values, knowledge and sense of community imbued in these places.
The site custodians in this new cohort will participate in an interactive training, assessment and adaptation implementation program that equips them and their communities with the capability to understand and visualize climate change impacts on a local scale, map the vulnerability of their sites and the community values they hold and act to minimize the adverse consequences of climate change.
The new heritage sites, representing 6 continents, in the 2024 cohort are:
- Kherlen River Basin, Mongolia
- Shenkeng District, Chinese Taipei
- Nelson’s Dockyard National Park, Antigua and Barbuda
- Champagne Hillside, Houses, and Cellars, France
- Kerkennah Island, Tunisia
- Rideau Canal, Canada
- Guató Barra do São Lourenço Indigenous community, Brazil
- Bahia’s Candomblé Terreiro, Brazil
- Mapoon Mission and Burial Mounds, Australia
- La Vieille Ville Historique d’Agadez, Niger
- Rock of Cashel, Ireland
These sites represent diverse types of heritage places and communities, including physical structures, landscapes, customs and traditions. They are also all experiencing different climate hazards, from coastal flooding and erosion, to wildfires and changes to traditional agricultural practices. This new cohort builds on an already diverse range of heritage places from the first founding year of the project.
By combining local knowledge, cutting-edge science, community capacity building, and interactive networking, Preserving Legacies is increasing access to heritage adaptation and transforming conservation as a field to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.