2024 World Heritage update for USA and Canada

IUCN is the official advisor on nature to the World Heritage Committee, which is the governing body of the Convention and is made up of 21 of the Convention’s signatory States Parties. Over the past year, IUCN has undertaken extensive research and on the ground visits, to provide technical recommendations on the evaluation of six new sites, and on the state of conservation of 41 existing natural World Heritage sites including those on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The 46^th session of the World Heritage Committee – organized by UNESCO – convened from 24 to 31 July 2024 in Delhi, India.

For more information about the recommendations from IUCN and decisions from the World Heritage Committee click here.

New World Heritage sites

The Committee inscribed 26 new properties, including 20 cultural properties, 5 natural properties and 1 mixed site on the World Heritage List. On IUCN’s recommendation, the six newly-inscribed sites with natural values include impressive dunes, exceptional cave-dwelling species, peat bogs and mires, and important bird migratory routes.

The Committee also approved the inclusion of the Moravian Church Settlements in Bethlehem (Pennsylvania). Bethlehem, established in 1741, is the first permanent, best-preserved, and most important Moravian Church settlement in North America. The property becomes the 26^th World Heritage site in the US, joining iconic national parks such as Yellowstone, Great Smoky Mountains, and the Grand Canyon.

Everglades National Park

Everglades National Park was subject to a minor report this year, with a more detailed assessment expected in July 2025 (a US state of conservation report is due by 1 December 2024). In 2023, following IUCN recommendations, the Committee expressed its utmost concern about the reported adverse impact of the planned extension of the SR 836 / Dolphin Expressway on the Greater Everglades wetland ecosystem, and urged the US to identify alternatives that do not negatively impact the property, and to assess potential impacts of any proposed development in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context prior to making any decisions that would be difficult to reverse, and to submit the assessment to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN. Following IUCN recommendations, the Committee decided that the Everglades be retained on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve

Although this property is entirely located in Mexico, transboundary cooperation with the USA is essential to maintain and enhance the management of the property. IUCN noted how a border wall of over 100km has disrupted the ecological connectivity of this transboundary landscape and has blocked the migratory routes of Sonoran Pronghorn, an endemic mammal threatened by extinction. Following IUCN recommendations, the Committee encouraged the USA and Mexico to assess and mitigate the impacts of the border wall, and expedite the implementation of the Sonoran Pronghorn Recovery Plan. The Committee also requested Mexico and the USA to organize a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring Mission as a matter of urgency.

Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California

The Committee welcomed the cooperation between Mexico and the USA to combat illegal trafficking of totoaba products as well as the development of a Terms of Reference for the Trilateral Law Enforcement Contact Group. Following IUCN recommendations, the property was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2019 due to a threat of imminent extinction of the vaquita population caused by illegal fishing of totoaba.

IUCN Members supporting World Heritage

The Committee recognized the support of:

• the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the renovation and construction of surveillance posts around the Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea);
• the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for their significant efforts to secure and improve the management and monitoring of Manovo Gounda St. Floris National Park (Central African Republic), to continue ecological monitoring, to strengthen staff numbers and capacities, to rehabilitate the infrastructure of the management team, to raise awareness among local communities and to develop community alternatives to poaching;
• the US Department of Interior (Office of Insular Affairs), US National Park Service, US State Department and US Forest Service for supporting the removal of vegetation overgrowing the stone palaces of Nan Madol: Ceremonial Centre of Eastern Micronesia (Federated States of Micronesia), as well as a new Visitor Centre.

In the context of the IUCN World Heritage Strategy, IUCN is currently exploring how key contributions of IUCN Members and IUCN Commissions can help implement the Strategy as a whole Union effort.

About the World Heritage Convention and IUCN

Iconic sites such as the Galápagos Islands, the pyramids of Egypt, the medieval city of Bruges, or the Serengeti have received the highest level of international recognition: World Heritage designation. These sites tell our shared human story. They are irreplaceable.

The idea of combining conservation of cultural sites with those of nature comes from the USA. A 1965 White House Conference in Washington D.C. called for “A Trust for the World Heritage” to stimulate “international cooperative efforts to identify, establish, develop and manage the world’s superb natural and scenic and areas and historic sites for the present and future benefit of the entire world citizenry” (source). In 1968 IUCN developed similar proposals for its members and went on to draft the Convention together with UNESCO. The US was the first country to ratify the 1972 World Heritage Convention. IUCN is explicitly recognized as the Convention’s technical Advisory Body on nature.

From the over 1,000 World Heritage sites internationally recognized for their cultural and natural values, 26 are located in the Unites States and 22 in Canada. Many of those sites are managed by long-standing IUCN members the US National Park Service and Parks Canada / Parcs Canada.  

The World Heritage team in the IUCN North America Office actively builds partnerships to support the World Heritage Convention, prioritizing those natural wonders most in need. In 2024 we also celebrate the 45^th World Heritage anniversary of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Everglades National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek.

Click here to explore how you can support our World Heritage work.