"While the focus of media and public attention is usually on the new sites to be added on the World Heritage List, the protection of sites already on the list plays an equally important role in ensuring the future of our world heritage, “ says Tim Badman, IUCN’s Special Advisor on World Heritage, "Almost 40 years after the adoption of the World Heritage Convention, we need to focus on practical solutions for dealing with the ever-increasing threats to the sites.

Under UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention of 1972, the World Heritage Committee meets annually to examine the state of conservation of sites on the World Heritage List and review new nominations for inscription. The World Heritage Committee consists of representatives from 21countries, elected by the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention for a period of six years. The following countries are the current members of the Committee: Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and United States of America.

SPOKESPERSONS:
• Tim Badman, IUCN Special Advisor on World Heritage Sites, e tim.badman@iucn.org
• Pedro Rosabal, Senior Programme Officer, IUCN’s Programme on Protected Areas,
e pedro.rosabal@iucn.org
• Tilman Jaeger, IUCN World Heritage Project Management Officer, e tilman.jaeger@iucn.org
• Josephine Langley, IUCN World Heritage Monitoring Officer, e josephine.langley@iucn.org

MEDIA TEAM:
• Borjana Pervan, Media Relations Officer, IUCN, m  +41 79 8574072 , e borjana.pervan@iucn.org
• Sonsoles Sanroman, IUCNCommunications, t  + 34.95.202.8430  (ext. 106),
e sonsoles.sanroman@iucn.org

MATERIALS FOR THE MEDIA:
• Please visit www.iucn.org/worldheritage for press materials, including:
• Press releases on the latest news from IUCN at the World Heritage Committee
• Photo gallery of new natural sites inscribed on the World Heritage List (once the sites are announced)
• Fact sheets on each new natural site inscribed on the World Heritage List (once the sites are announced)
• Downloadable audio interviews with IUCN’s experts (once the sites are announced)

About IUCN
IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges by supporting scientific research; managing field projects all over the world; and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN, international conventions and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the independent advisory body to the World Heritage Committee on natural heritage.www.iucn.org