Heritage Management in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

The programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) responds to the region’s important heritage, including 141 World Heritage sites with diverse and significant cultural expressions; many ancient cultures and subcultures; strong nature–culture linkages and rich indigenous knowledge reserves; and innovative contemporary art.

This heritage faces threats caused by social, political, economic and environmental factors, including climate change, natural hazards such as hurricanes, storms and earthquakes, mass tourism, rapid urbanization, governance issues, and lack of awareness and professional capacity opportunities.

LAC will focus on disaster risk management in response to numerous recent catastrophic events and potential threats in the region. It will also consider the overall management of cultural heritage, including methodologies and tools for long-term planning, focusing on impact assessments, people-centred approaches and linking nature and culture.

Momentum is growing worldwide to make conservation more sustainable, given the continuing and increasing challenges of climate change, rising urbanization and a perceived reduction in available resources. The aim is to foster resilience among heritage institutions and conservation professionals so they can take advantage of existing opportunities, understand complex future challenges and champion sustainable development.

To promote the broader inclusion of conservation professionals and professionals from other fields, Spanish and Portuguese are the primary languages of LAC’s activities.