Paris, November 22 - Young people will discuss their role in the identification, preservation and promotion of heritage at the Pacific World Heritage Youth Forum organised by UNESCO in Cairns, Australia, from November 23-28.

Students and teachers from 17 Pacific countries will meet ahead of the 24th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, which will inscribe new cultural and natural sites on the World Heritage List and review the List of World Heritage in Danger during its November 27-December 2 meeting, also in Cairns.

The programme for the Youth Forum includes lectures and workshops on heritage and the environment in the Pacific, as well as a field trip to the Wet Tropics World Heritage site near Cairns. On November 28, the students will present their proposed action plan for the Pacific region to the World Heritage Committee.

The Associated Schools Project network (ASPnet) is running the Pacific World Heritage Youth Forum for the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, in conjunction with UNESCO's World Heritage Centre and Environment Australia.

The event is organised within the framework of the UNESCO Special Project "Young People's Participation in World Heritage Preservation and Promotion" and is the eighth Youth Forum organised by UNESCO after Norway (1995), Croatia (1996), Zimbabwe (1996), China (1997), Japan (1998), Senegal (1999) and Morocco (1999).

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