Browse the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices

The Committee meets annually to evaluate nominations proposed by States Parties to the 2003 Convention and decide whether or not to inscribe those cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage on the Convention’s Lists.

By clicking on the inscribed elements listed below, you can discover the nominations, photos and videos, together with Committee decisions and evidence of community consent.

You may also experience a conceptual, visual and interactive navigation through ‘Dive into Intangible Cultural Heritage’ interfaces which demonstrate the thematic interconnectedness between all the elements inscribed and their relation to nature or to threats.

The designations employed in the texts and documents of the nomination presented by the submitting State Party or States Parties do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Committee nor UNESCO concerning a) the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, b) the legal status of its authorities or c) the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Full text search: The system will search the exact expression entered (i.e. ‘sustainable development’), except if you separate the terms by a comma so that the motor search one or the other expression or the two (i.e. ‘foodways, culinary practices’).

The system will search the exact expression entered (i.e. ‘sustainable development’), except if you separate the terms by a comma so that the motor search one or the other expression or the two (i.e. ‘foodways, culinary practices’).

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Results : 108 elements corresponding to 5 regions and 81 countries

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2023⁶ – 2022¹⁶ – 2021⁷ – 2020⁹ – 2019⁴ – 2018⁸ – 2017⁷ – 2016³ – 2015³ – 2014⁴ – 2013⁵ – 2012⁴ – 2011⁶ – 2010⁵ – 2009¹³ – 2008⁸

2023
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Traditional knowledge, methods and practices concerning olive cultivation	Türkiye
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Alpine pasture season	Switzerland
Art of Akhal-Teke horse breeding and traditions of horses' decoration	Turkmenistan
Jamu wellness culture	Indonesia
Traditional irrigation: knowledge, technique, and organization	Austria – Belgium – Germany – Italy – Luxembourg – Netherlands – Switzerland
Transhumance, the seasonal droving of livestock	Albania – Andorra – Austria – Croatia – France – Greece – Italy – Luxembourg – Romania – Spain
2022
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Quinchamalí and Santa Cruz de Cuca pottery	Chile
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Alheda'a, oral traditions of calling camel flocks	Saudi Arabia – Oman – United Arab Emirates
Ancestral system of knowledge of the four indigenous peoples, Arhuaco, Kankuamo, Kogui and Wiwa of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta	Colombia
Bear festivities in the Pyrenees	Andorra – France
Beekeeping in Slovenia, a way of life	Slovenia
Culture of Çay (tea), a symbol of identity, hospitality and social interaction	Azerbaijan – Türkiye
Date palm, knowledge, skills, traditions and practices	United Arab Emirates – Bahrain – Egypt – Iraq – Jordan – Kuwait – Mauritania – Morocco – Oman – Palestine – Qatar – Saudi Arabia – Sudan – Tunisia – Yemen
Furyu-odori, ritual dances imbued with people’s hopes and prayers	Japan
Harissa, knowledge, skills and culinary and social practices	Tunisia
Knowledge and practices related to cultivating Khawlani coffee beans	Saudi Arabia
Knowledge of the light rum masters	Cuba
Lipizzan horse breeding traditions	Austria – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia – Hungary – Italy – Romania – Slovakia – Slovenia
Orteke, traditional performing art in Kazakhstan: dance, puppet and music	Kazakhstan
Straw weaving in Belarus, art, craft and skills	Belarus
Timber rafting	Austria – Czechia – Germany – Latvia – Poland – Spain
Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China	China
2021
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Carolinian wayfinding and canoe making	Micronesia (Federated States of)
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Falconry, a living human heritage	United Arab Emirates – Austria – Belgium – Croatia – Czechia – France – Germany – Hungary – Ireland – Italy – Kazakhstan – Republic of Korea – Kyrgyzstan – Mongolia – Morocco – Netherlands – Pakistan – Poland – Portugal – Qatar – Saudi Arabia – Slovakia – Spain – Syrian Arab Republic
Flower carpets tradition for Corpus Christi processions	Poland
Ornek, a Crimean Tatar ornament and knowledge about it	Ukraine
Pottery-related values, knowledge, lore and practices of the Awajún people	Peru
Traditional craftsmanship of making Dumbara Ratā Kalāla	Sri Lanka
Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
Success story of promoting traditional foods and safeguarding traditional foodways in Kenya	Kenya
2020
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Aboxan Musik ǀŌb ǂÂns tsî ǁKhasigu, ancestral musical sound knowledge and skills	Namibia
Traditional knowledge and techniques associated with Pasto Varnish mopa-mopa of Putumayo and Nariño	Colombia
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Al Aflaj, traditional irrigation network system in the UAE, oral traditions, knowledge and skills of construction, maintenance and equitable water distribution	United Arab Emirates
Camel racing, a social practice and a festive heritage associated with camels	United Arab Emirates – Oman
Grass mowing competition custom in Kupres	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Nar Bayrami, traditional pomegranate festivity and culture	Azerbaijan
Traditional skills, techniques and knowledge for the conservation and transmission of wooden architecture in Japan	Japan
Tree beekeeping culture	Poland – Belarus
Wine Horses	Spain
2019
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Alpinism	France – Italy – Switzerland
Practices and craftsmanship associated with the Damascene rose in Al-Mrah	Syrian Arab Republic
Practices of Then by Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups in Viet Nam	Viet Nam
Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
Biocultural programme for the safeguarding of the tradition of the Blessed Palm in Venezuela	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
2018
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Knowledge and skills of the water measurers of the foggaras or water bailiffs of Touat and Tidikelt	Algeria
Suri Jagek (observing the sun), traditional meteorological and astronomical practice based on the observation of the sun, moon and stars in reference to the local topography	Pakistan
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Art of dry stone walling, knowledge and techniques	Croatia – Cyprus – France – Greece – Italy – Slovenia – Spain – Switzerland
Avalanche risk management	Switzerland – Austria
Horse and camel Ardhah	Oman
Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa, knowledge and practices concerning life, health and illness prevention and treatment among the Tibetan people in China	China
The skills related to perfume in Pays de Grasse: the cultivation of perfume plants, the knowledge and processing of natural raw materials, and the art of perfume composition	France
Traditional spring festive rites of the Kazakh horse breeders	Kazakhstan
2017
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Colombian-Venezuelan llano work songs	Colombia – Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Mongolian traditional practices of worshipping the sacred sites	Mongolia
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Chogān, a horse-riding game accompanied by music and storytelling	Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Khaen music of the Lao people	Lao People's Democratic Republic
Kok boru, traditional horse game	Kyrgyzstan
Spring celebration, Hıdrellez	North Macedonia – Türkiye
Traditional system of Corongo’s water judges	Peru
2016
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Argungu international fishing and cultural festival	Nigeria
Gada system, an indigenous democratic socio-political system of the Oromo	Ethiopia
Practices related to the Viet beliefs in the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms	Viet Nam
2015
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Coaxing ritual for camels	Mongolia
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Classical horsemanship and the High School of the Spanish Riding School Vienna	Austria
Fichee-Chambalaalla, New Year festival of the Sidama people	Ethiopia
2014
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Mapoyo oral tradition and its symbolic reference points within their ancestral territory	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Argan, practices and know-how concerning the argan tree	Morocco
Coming forth of the masks and puppets in Markala	Mali
Traditional agricultural practice of cultivating the ‘vite ad alberello’ (head-trained bush vines) of the community of Pantelleria	Italy
2013
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Chovqan, a traditional Karabakh horse-riding game in the Republic of Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Knowledge, skills and rituals related to the annual renewal of the Q’eswachaka bridge	Peru
Mediterranean diet	Cyprus – Croatia – Spain – Greece – Italy – Morocco – Portugal
Xooy, a divination ceremony among the Serer of Senegal	Senegal
Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
Methodology for inventorying intangible cultural heritage in biosphere reserves: the experience of Montseny	Spain
2012
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Fiesta of the patios in Cordova	Spain
Ichapekene Piesta, the biggest festival of San Ignacio de Moxos	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Nachi no Dengaku, a religious performing art held at the Nachi fire festival	Japan
Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
Xtaxkgakget Makgkaxtlawana: the Centre for Indigenous Arts and its contribution to safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of the Totonac people of Veracruz, Mexico	Mexico
2011
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Esuwa, Harakbut sung prayers of Peru’s Wachiperi people	Peru
Hezhen Yimakan storytelling	China
Yaokwa, the Enawene Nawe people's ritual for the maintenance of social and cosmic order	Brazil
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Equitation in the French tradition	France
Mibu no Hana Taue, ritual of transplanting rice in Mibu, Hiroshima	Japan
Traditional knowledge of the jaguar shamans of Yuruparí	Colombia
2010
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Mongolian traditional art of Khöömei	Mongolia
Naadam, Mongolian traditional festival	Mongolia
Pirekua, traditional song of the P’urhépecha	Mexico
Traditional Mexican cuisine - ancestral, ongoing community culture, the Michoacán paradigm	Mexico
Wayuu normative system, applied by the Pütchipü’üi (palabrero)	Colombia
2009
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Qiang New Year festival	China
Sanké mon, collective fishing rite of the Sanké	Mali
Traditional music of the Tsuur	Mongolia
Traditions and practices associated with the Kayas in the sacred forests of the Mijikenda	Kenya
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Irrigators’ tribunals of the Spanish Mediterranean coast: the Council of Wise Men of the plain of Murcia and the Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia	Spain
Mongolian art of singing, Khoomei	China
Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture	Japan
Places of memory and living traditions of the Otomí-Chichimecas people of Tolimán: the Peña de Bernal, guardian of a sacred territory	Mexico
Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India	India
Ritual ceremony of the Voladores	Mexico
Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China	China
Traditional Ainu dance	Japan
Traditional handicrafts of making Xuan paper	China
2008
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Andean cosmovision of the Kallawaya	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Barkcloth making in Uganda	Uganda
Kihnu cultural space	Estonia
Maroon heritage of Moore Town	Jamaica
Oral and graphic expressions of the Wajapi	Brazil
Oral heritage and cultural manifestations of the Zápara people	Ecuador – Peru
Polyphonic singing of the Aka Pygmies of Central Africa	Central African Republic
Woodcrafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry	Madagascar