World Heritage and the IUCN Green List: Recognising conservation leadership for Outstanding Universal Values

At the IUCN Secretariat and the French IUCN Committee, we are constantly working on making the Green List more relevant, accessible and empowering, and are genuinely great believers in the potential and the opportunities presented by this international standard that recognises equitably governed and effectively managed protected and conserved areas. However, nothing is more rewarding to us than hearing practitioners sharing their positive stories about their Green List journey. 

Through the webinar, we wanted to give the opportunity to outstanding site representatives to share their perspectives on managing both World Heritage and Green List-related procedures and requirements, as well as the value of pursuing the Green List certification when already being recognised as World Heritage.

In order of appearance, here are the key highlights from each intervention:

Mr Nicolas Reymond and Mrs Lisa Kundasamy, French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises – TAAF), France

TAAF has benefited from undertaking the self-assessment against the Green List standard, especially on the governance component. It first reinforced confidence that the governance of the site aligned with the criteria for good governance outlined in the standard. It is collaborative and transparent in the decision-making processes and supported with scientific programmes and initiatives focused on continuous learning. The self-assessemtn highlighted that improvements were still to be made on outreach and communication, however.

TAAF has very good overall design and planning, but it is required to update management plans according to data collected in an iterative manner. New management plans related to specific species or certain activities, such as fisheries, also contribute to improve the conservation of natural heritage.

The Green List and reporting to UNESCO are both incentives to collect data; improve management practices with new activities, such as preventing invasive species with a biosecurity strategy; and feed the results into planning and management. It also strengthens efforts to develop data collection and reporting tools that inform key indicators for evaluating management outcomes, which help to streamline the many sources of data collected and analysed by numerous collaborators within the TAAF.

Engaging with both programmes also enables partnerships, networking and experience sharing at national and international levels. It also increases the visibility of the site, and the conservation work being undertaken. The Green List in particular guides actions geared towards continuous improvement in governance and management. Reporting exercises for the Green List and UNESCO requires TAAF to inform and evaluate their actions on a regular basis.

Photo: TAAF

Col. Diarrassouba Abdoulaye and Mr Aristide Kone, Taï National Park, Ivory Coast

The Taï National Park started the IUCN Green List certification process in 2017 and achieved certification in June 2025.

The main challenge that was raised during the self-evaluation was the need for improvement in the mobilisation of local stakeholders in the identification of the site values, and especially the cultural values, as well as the identification and assessment of ecosystemic values.

Taï National Park implemented activities to mitigate these gaps, which allowed for local stakeholders to share their traditional knowledge, amongst other opportunities. This qualitative data was then structured into a synthesis of the values, among which some were newly added in the monitoring plan of the park. 

The Green List self-assessment tool has enabled Taï National Park to identify gaps in governance and management, and to advocate and mobilise resources to fund the implementation of activities that were necessary to achieve the standard.

The Green List has improved the visibility of the World Heritage site, strengthened the engagement of the authorities in conserving and creating protected areas, and has generally created enthusiasm and engagement among local stakeholders and rights holders, proud to be recognised through an international standard.

While UNESCO emphasises the Outstanding Universal Values of the site, the IUCN Green List demonstrates that these values are well conserved.

Cdt. Daple Kouazeu Raoul, La Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast

The Green List certification process of La Comoé National Park has allowed managers to identify improvement measures regarding its governance, notably on gender related issues. It was also an opportunity to collect data among local actors, on sacred sites and adoration practices that are attached to them. 

The data collection implied by the Green List process forms a library of documents, that is an important asset for the management team. Documenting management efforts and demonstrating conservation outcomes were highlight as perhaps the IUCN Green List’s most unique advantages by Cdt. Raoul.

“Visitors often come to our park, because it is a World Heritage site, but being on the Green List allows the management team to demonstrate that they do a good job.”

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