IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

Terrestrial biodiversity and the World Heritage List : identifying broad gaps and potential candidate sites for inclusion in the natural World Heritage network

Bertzky, Bastian; Shi, Yichuan; Hughes, A.; Engels, B.; Ali, Mariam Kenza; Badman, Tim

IUCN, World Heritage Programme; IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas; UNEP-WCMC; Germany, Bundesamt für Naturschutz; Germany, Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; Fondation MAVA pour la nature; Protected Planet

The World Heritage List includes 156 properties explicitly recognized for their outstanding biodiversity values, which together represent the world’s major ecosystems. However, some areas with outstanding biodiversity values are still not part of this network of ‘biodiversity World Heritage sites’. To address this issue, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC have developed this global thematic study, with a focus on the terrestrial realm. The study updates previous analyses and identifies broad gaps as well as potentially outstanding biodiversity sites that may merit World Heritage listing. A study is underway for the marine realm. These reports are the latest in a long series of global and regional studies that, over the years, have provided critical guidance for the development of the World Heritage List.

Gland, CH : IUCN ; Cambridge, UK : UNEP-WCMC, 2013 xiii, 69p. : ill., maps

ISBN 978-2-8317-1589-6

Note: Includes bibliographical references. Also available in separate French language version. Publication is accompanied by three annexes: Udvardy Provinces not represented in biodiversity World Heritage sites; Centres of Plant Diversity not represented in World Heritage biodiversity World Heritage sites; and Endemic Bird Areas not represented in World Heritage biodiversity World Heritage sites.