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N° 10-2006 – Paris, 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. For 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
s.williams@unesco.org

For further information, please contact:
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

Voyage around the world in 600 metres

UNESCO has unveiled a frieze of satellite images of Earth at its Paris
headquarters building to give visitors a view of the planet from a strikingly
fresh perspective.

Full story at:

http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMBVW59CLE_index_0.html

Exhibition offers new perspectives of Earth from space

Graz, Austria – ‘Planet Earth – Exploration from Space’ is a new exhibition
illustrating the unique contribution satellite images offer to Earth exploration
and the possibilities of up-to-date satellite technology.

The exhibition, supported by ESA, has been organised within the Space Conference
for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and takes place at the
Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz, Austria, from 19 April to 11 June 2006.

Read more at:

http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM1U0OFGLE_index_0.html

Win Europe from Space

To celebrate Europe Day, ESA is offering you a chance to win a poster showing
Europe as seen by satellite. The competition opens at 09:00 CET on 9 May and
closes at 09:00 CET on 10 May.

Read more at:

http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMJTI8ATME_index_0.html

Enter the competition at:

http://www.esa.int/europeday