The benefits of remote sensing for conservation and monitoring world heritage sites

Through the joint effort of UNESCO, OSTC Belgium, Geography Dept, Ghent University and SURFACES Laboratory of Geomatics Dept, Liege University, a demo project to conserve five World Heritage sites was launched. For this project an internet site was created. This website aims to demonstrate the usability of remote sensing and GIS for cartography and land cover change studies of World Heritage sites to a wide public audience. Both basic cartography and land cover change studies are needed to support the World Heritage site management and conservation. The five World Heritage sites chosen for this demo project represent a wide variety of natural or cultural/historical characteristics: tropical forest, savannah and coastal area for the natural sites, a European historic centre and an Islamic city for the cultural sites.