Cabinet nod to set up natural heritage centre

The union cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to sign an agreement with Unesco for the establishment of a Centre for World Natural Heritage Management and Training Centre for Asia-Pacific region at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun.

In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the cabinet approved the proposal for signing the pact which was mooted by the environment ministry, sources said.

The Centre will provide capacity building support to countries in the region for upkeep of heritage and natural sites.

After the establishment of the centre in Dehradun, India will be uniquely placed to provide services for preparation and evaluation of proposals for new sites in Asia-Pacific region and training and capacity building on management and monitoring of heritage sites.

This is the first time that an existing institute will be accorded recognition by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

There are nine category-II centres related to cultural heritage and the centre at WII is the first for natural heritage.