600 metre frieze of planet Earth around UNESCO (Forwarded)

European Space Agency
Press Release No. 10-2006
Paris, France 17 March 2006

600 metre frieze of planet Earth around UNESCO

A frieze depicting planet Earth -- made up of 1:1000000 scale satellite
images -- will be unfurled around UNESCO's Paris headquarters building
from 29 March to 4 November.

The "Belle île en ciel" exhibition, organised by UNESCO as part of its
60th birthday celebrations, will be officially opened on 29 March (at 5
p.m.) in the presence of UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura, ESA
Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and Parc Européen du Volcanisme
'Vulcania' President Jean Mallot.

The exhibition -- which is being supported by the European Space Agency,
the Parc européen Vulcania, PlanetObserver, Spot Image, RATP and L'Express
-- will give visitors a view of the Earth from a strikingly fresh
perspective. It will essentially serve to highlight the planet's
fragility. The frieze, produced using the PlanetObserver database, will
include some 60 charts graphically illustrating the main environmental
challenges facing humanity at large in seeking to protect our common
heritage: managing the water cycle, biodiversity, pollution,
deforestation, global warming, managing natural disasters, plus education,
communication, dialogue among civilisations and the preservation of
specific cultures.

Humanity's greatest heritage is the Earth itself, this truly beautiful
'island' in the cosmos, home -- for better or for worse -- to over 6.5
billion inhabitants. But the advent of observation satellites is making us
increasingly aware of the limits of our home planet.

Studying the environment -- using ESA satellites such as Meteosat, ERS and
Envisat -- has significantly contributed to highlighting serious ongoing
issues concerning climate change. The data gathered are used today to
build up models of the implications of such changes for the world of
tomorrow. To improve and sustain that modelling, ESA has under its Living
Planet initiative set up satellite programmes that are designed to enhance
our understanding of major green issues such as ocean circulation, ocean
salinity, atmospheric dynamics and thinning polar ice. ESA is also,
together with the EU, preparing the way for the Global Monitoring for
Environment and Security (GMES) initiative, which aims to coordinate Earth
observation from space for the protection of the environment and local
populations. The issues highlighted by this exhibition underpin the many
joint projects set up since 2000 by UNESCO and ESA.

These projects aim to harness space technologies in order to address
humanitarian needs, protect the environment, manage disasters and promote
education and culture. The global coverage provided by satellites and
their capacity to fly repeatedly over a given region make them a key tool
for managing our planet.

With this in mind, in 2001 ESA and UNESCO set up the Build Environment for
Gorillas (BEGo) project. This involves using satellite radar and optical
imaging to help protect the gorilla habitat in the mountains of Ruanda,
Uganda and the Congo. Special tools have been developed from the resulting
data in cooperation with the main interested parties, which include the
World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the International Gorilla Conservation
Programme (PICG) and the WildLife Conservation Society.

Following the 2002 Earth Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, ESA again partnered UNESCO in starting up the TIGER
initiative. This uses satellite data to manage water resources in Africa.
Responding to in-situ demand expressed by various parties, this initiative
draws together over 150 organisations throughout the continent -- water
agencies, remote-sensing centres, universities -- under the banner of its
various activities, workshops and training programmes. TIGER is thus
playing its part in the decision-making process and in improving
technical, human and institutional capabilities in a joint effort to place
sustainable management of Africa's water resources on a secure footing.

Under the Data User Element of its Earth Observation programme, ESA will
be continuing to provide such support, supplying UNESCO with
remote-sensing data on its listed World Heritage sites and on the
Biosphere Reserve in Central America. It will shortly be undertaking a
feasibility study which could in 2008 become a full-scale project,
extended to cover other sites around the world.

Since 2003, ESA has been contributing to the protection of 812 listed
sites under UNESCO's Convention concerning the Protection of World
Cultural and Natural Heritage. Under a cooperation agreement, UNESCO is
able to use data gathered by ESA satellites to help monitor and manage
listed World Heritage sites.

Journalists wishing to attend the exhibition opening ceremony are asked to
request media accreditation from UNESCO's Press Relations Section:

Sue Williams
Tel. +33 (0)1 45 68 17 06

For further information, please contact:

ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

Related links

* Observing the Earth
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/index.html
* The Living Planet
http://www.esa.int/esaLP/index.html
* GMES
http://www.esa.int/esaLP/LPgmes.html
* Data User Programme
http://dup.esrin.esa.it/
* BEGo website
http://212.100.178.135/bego/
* UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org
* Earth images
http://www.esa.int/earthimages

[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMCMTNVGJE_index_0.html ]