The Friends of World Heritage, an initiative of the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation), Expedia, Inc., and the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, announced today that it has awarded four community development grants to organizations in Belize and Mexico. These grants, a total of $113,000, will support community initiatives to foster sustainable tourism in and around World Heritage sites. Contributions from individuals last year were matched by both Expedia, Inc. and the UN Foundation.

“Supporting sustainable communities and the protection of World Heritage sites is a priority for our company,” said Kim Solem, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Expedia, Inc. “We were excited that travelers across the globe helped us to deliver much needed resources to these communities.”

The grant recipients – all community-owned enterprises to improve the income levels of local residents while preserving the natural environment around the World Heritage sites of Sian Ka’an and the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System – are:

• The Toledo Tour Guide Association: Located in the southern part of the Belize Barrier Reef World Heritage site, the association will promote and preserve the culture and values of the indigenous peoples of Toledo by educating locals and providing tourist services.
• The Belize Audubon Society: The society secures responsible and environmentally friendly tourism around the Blue Hole Natural Monument by providing information to travelers and involving the community in tourism operations.
• The Green Reef Environmental Institute: The institute will help local fishermen identify alternative livelihoods to prevent overfishing in the northern part of the Belize Barrier Reef.
• Academy of Mayan Language and Culture in Quintana Roo (Academia de la Lengua y Cultura Mayas de Quintana Roo): The Academy is building a botanical garden and improving their Mayan cultural center to both preserve local Mayan culture and educate travelers.

“The well-being of the community that surrounds these sites directly affects how these sites are protected”, explains Francesco Bandarin, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. “Ensuring the stability of these communities and their traditions is an important step in both preserving the World Heritage sites and improving the tourism experience.”

“The park is really special and I am excited about this project”, says Mito Paz of the Green Reef Environmental Institute, whose project will be located in the Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, one of seven protected areas that makes up the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage site. “And I know people will want to see [Bacalar Chico] and I know that the more people see what we have achieved, the more they will advocate for its continued protection.”

To read the press release in Spanish, click here.

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Note to the editor: For more information about our Friends of World Heritage grant recipients, visit the Friends of World Heritage website at: www.friendsofworldheritage.org.

About Friends of World Heritage
Friends of World Heritage is a grassroots initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of protecting World Heritage, promoting sustainable development, offering ways to explore these sites through sustainable travel, and raising funds to support projects in communities that depend on World Heritage sites. Friends of World Heritage was created by the United Nations Foundation and its partners are: Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre.  www.FriendsofWorldHeritage.org.

About the United Nations Foundation
The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems and also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. www.unfoundation.org.

About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is the world’s leading online travel company, empowering business and leisure travelers with the tools and information they need to easily research, plan, book and experience travel. Expedia, Inc. also provides wholesale travel to offline retail travel agents and in-destination concierge service and activity desks for travelers. The Expedia, Inc. portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com®, hotels.com®, Hotwire®, Expedia® Corporate Travel, TripAdvisor®, Expedia Local Expert™, Classic Vacations® and eLong™. Expedia, Inc.’s companies operate more than 50 global points of sale with sites in North America, South America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Expedia, Inc. was recently added to the S&P 500 index. For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/ (NASDAQ: EXPE).

About UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre
The World Heritage Centre is the focal point and coordinator within the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for all matters related to World Heritage. It acts as the Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee, organizing its statutory meetings, developing and proposing policy on its behalf and actively ensuring the implementation of activities in accordance with its decisions and in co-operation with the States Parties and the Advisory Bodies (ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN). It provides advice to States Parties on the preparation of Tentative Lists and nominations to the World Heritage List and assures their receipt, registration, archiving and transmission to ICOMOS and/or IUCN. It also coordinates studies and activities in support of the Global Strategy for a balanced, representative and credible World Heritage List. The Centre organizes International Assistance from the World Heritage Fund, coordinates the Periodic Reporting exercise and reactive monitoring on the state of conservation of World Heritage properties as well as the emergency action undertaken when a property is threatened. It organizes technical seminars and workshops, and updates the World Heritage List and database, and promotes the World Heritage Convention to the general public.

The World Heritage Centre coordinates its activities with those of other multilateral cultural and environmental agreements, UNESCO cultural and natural heritage conventions and recommendations, to ensure complementarity and synergy. The Centre also identifies and implements regional and thematic programmes, and mobilizes additional financial and technical resources to ensure the conservation and management of World Heritage properties in partnership with other UN agencies, development banks, conservation NGOs, research institutions, foundations and the corporate sector. For more information, visit http://whc.unesco.org.