Story | 13 May, 2020
Blue Finance builds an alliance to monetise and more effectively protect Marine Protected Areas
A key obstacle to effectively managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is a lack of economic resources, but at the Oriental Mindoro MPA in the Philippines, a consortium of dedicated partners is turning one of the world`s most productive ecosystems…
IUCN Statement | 30 Apr, 2020
IUCN deplores the brutal killing of 17 people in Virunga National Park
IUCN is deeply shocked by the tragic loss of 12 park rangers, a staff driver and four civilians close to Virunga National Park, following an attack by armed militia on 24 April. One of the world’s most biodiversity-rich areas and home to the last remaining mountain gorillas, Virunga is Africa’s…
Story | 12 Mar, 2020
Report: Blue Infrastructure Finance, where all win
All coastal and marine ecosystems are critical to human well-being and global biodiversity. Mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds are examples of these. But urban and rural infrastructure investments are having a heavy negative impact on these systems, and it is…
Story | 02 Feb, 2020
Cold Winter Deserts of Central Asia among potential World Heritage sites, new IUCN report finds
Cold Winter Deserts in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are among six globally significant biodiversity sites in Central Asia that could potentially qualify for World Heritage status, according to a new report launched today by IUCN, the official advisor on natural World Heritage.
Story | 05 Dec, 2019
IUCN-outsourced paper finds no proof Rufiji dam project can meet Tanzania’s development needs
A strategic environmental assessment meant to guide decisions on the Rufiji hydropower project in Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve World Heritage site is completely inadequate, according to an independent technical review commissioned and issued today by IUCN. The document does not assess the…
Story | 28 Nov, 2019
Experts call attention to the key role of World Heritage in meeting biodiversity objectives
Experts convened by IUCN have issued a statement on how World Heritage contributes to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This includes recommendations specific to World Heritage and its relevance to biodiversity. Negotiations to develop the framework, which will be adopted by the…
Story | 15 Jul, 2019
UNESCO’s annual World Heritage Committee meeting concluded on 10 July. After gathering input from the IUCN delegation he headed at the Committee, Peter Shadie, Director of IUCN’s World Heritage Programme, captures some take-home messages from the meeting.
Story | 04 Jul, 2019
Hundreds of assessors and reviewers to take part in the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is gathering input from experts around the globe to complete a new cycle of assessments for the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3. This flagship IUCN report on natural World Heritage will be published in 2020, together with assessments for…
Press release | 03 Jul, 2019
The looming extinction of the vaquita puts Gulf of California on World Heritage danger list
The World Heritage Committee today followed IUCN’s advice to list Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California as a World Heritage site in danger. The site’s population of vaquitas – the world’s smallest and most endangered species of porpoise – has been decimated due to the…
Story | 01 Jul, 2019
IUCN report makes new proposals for listing World Heritage volcanoes
Eighteen volcanic landscapes around the globe are the most likely candidates for future inscription on the World Heritage List, according to a new IUCN study launched today at UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting in Azerbaijan.