Story | 07 Jun, 2024
IUCN, the official advisory body on nature to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, recommends the addition of four new sites to the prestigious World Heritage List for their outstanding natural value in Brazil, China, France and the UK. IUCN also recommends the extension of an existing serial site…
Page | 04 Feb, 2022
Since 1972, IUCN is the official advisor on nature under the World Heritage Convention. The Convention is known as "the most widely accepted international conservation treaty in human history”, ratified today by 195 States Parties. Natural World Heritage sites conserve the planet’s most…
Story | 06 Dec, 2021
Endangered Caspian Seal Habitat Awarded Important Marine Mammal Area Status
Today, the IUCN Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas, a joint task force of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and the World Commission on Protected Areas, announces that Caspian seals have been awarded three Important Marine Mammal Areas, or IMMAs, as part of a tranche of 14 new IMMAs…
Story | 29 Oct, 2021
This International Black Sea Action Day, 31st October, 11 habitats of Red-List Endangered Black Sea harbour porpoises and bottlenose dolphins as well as Vulnerable Black Sea common dolphins have been formally awarded Important Marine Mammal Area (IMMA) status by the…
Story | 19 Oct, 2021
Marine Heatwaves: a serious threat to marine biodiversity and livelihoods
Back in 2011, extremely warm water temperatures persisting over thousands of kilometres along the coastline of Western Australia caused coral bleaching, mass die-out of marine life and wiped out kelp forests. Since then, this phenomenon of abnormally high-water temperatures has been recorded in…
Story | 30 Jul, 2021
New IUCN report assesses potential for more geological World Heritage
Leading experts assess the potential for future inscriptions of geological World Heritage sites, in a new IUCN report launched today at UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting.
Story | 19 Jul, 2021
Salonga National Park in DR Congo removed from World Heritage in Danger List
The World Heritage Committee today has decided to remove Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the List of World Heritage in Danger. A mission carried out jointly by IUCN and UNESCO in 2020 reported significant improvements in the site’s conservation, but recommended…
Story | 22 Jun, 2021
IUCN, the official advisor on nature to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, recommends adding four natural sites to the List of World Heritage in Danger: the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the…
Press release | 19 May, 2021
World met target for protected area coverage on land, but quality must improve