World Heritage, experienced firsthand
Travel, conservation and original photography
Chasing World Heritage Passport
Places as unique and diverse as the Salt Mines of Wieliczka in Poland, the Grand Canyon in the USA, or the Sydney Opera House in Australia, are part of our world’s heritage. The Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972, seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world, considered to be of outstanding universal value to humanity. Chasing World Heritage is a personal initiative to visit all the UNESCO-listed properties, and to keep track of those visits. The current Chasing World Heritage passports are a compilation of sites, geographically and thematically represented up to the Convention's 50th Anniversary. Other passports containing the World Heritage sites per country or thematic areas can be tailored according to individual needs. For more information, get in touch!
About
A trip to the Earth
Imagine Earth were just another destination in the Universe. Which places would best explain its history, its cultures, its landscapes and the people who call it home?
World Heritage offers a remarkable answer. From ancient cities and sacred landscapes to forests, deserts and reefs, these are places recognised for their Outstanding Universal Value: places considered important not only to one country, but to humanity as a whole.
Chasing World Heritage is a personal journey to experience and document these places firsthand. Through original photography, travel stories and a conservation perspective, I want to go beyond simply visiting them: to understand what makes them extraordinary, what it feels like to experience them, and why protecting them matters.
World Heritage Sites
World Heritage Sites are cultural and natural places recognised for their Outstanding Universal Value , places considered so exceptional that their significance goes beyond national borders and matters to humanity as a whole. They range from ancient cities and archaeological sites to forests, mountains, deserts and coral reefs, making them some of the most extraordinary places a traveller can experience.
But with more than a thousand World Heritage Sites around the world, where do you begin? Which ones are near the places you are travelling to? Which are worth making a detour for? And, beyond their official descriptions, what are they actually like to visit?
If only someone were trying to visit them all, documenting the journey and sharing the experience along the way...
Well, that is exactly what Chasing World Heritage is about.
Who am I?
I am Pablo Arturo López Guijosa, a biologist, environmental manager, conservation communicator and photographer from Mexico City.
I have been travelling the world since I was 17. During my first trip abroad, while exploring the Historic District of Old Québec in Canada, I noticed an emblem I had never seen before: UNESCO World Heritage. I didn't know what it meant at the time. As I continued travelling, I began seeing the same symbol at many of the places that fascinated me most. Curiosity gradually became a personal mission.
Today, I have visited more than 360 World Heritage Sites across over 80 countries. Chasing World Heritage is where I share those experiences through my own photography and stories, combining the perspective of a traveller with my professional background in conservation.
The goal remains ambitious: to visit them all, understand why they matter, and help more people care about the heritage we have inherited and will pass on to future generations.
Join me as I keep Chasing World Heritage.