IUCN advises on state of conservation of nearly 80 World Heritage sites at 47th Committee meeting

The World Heritage Committee has been meeting since 6 July 2025 and has completed its deliberations on the state of conservation of World Heritage sites.

Every year, IUCN provides technical recommendations on the state of conservation of natural and mixed World Heritage sites facing threats and challenges, in its state of conservation reports to the World Heritage Committee prepared jointly with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the cultural Advisory Bodies for the Convention, ICOMOS and ICCROM. These management recommendations are then adopted by the World Heritage Committee through its Decisions, to be implemented by the relevant States Parties and reported on at subsequent meetings.

In 2025, IUCN provided technical advice on almost 80 World Heritage sites around the world.

Notably, the Committee decided to remove the ‘Rainforests of the Atsinanana’ in Madagascar from the List of World Heritage in Danger. This site had been on the Danger List since 2010, primarily due to illegal logging of precious woods, ongoing deforestation and increasing illegal hunting of endangered lemurs. The Committee welcomed progress made by the State Party of Madagascar in implementing the corrective measures adopted in 2011 and in achieving key indicators of the Desired State of Conservation for the Removal from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR).

Following high levels of concerns from IUCN, the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS on the ongoing degradation of both natural and cultural attributes of the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region (Albania, North Macedonia), including a recommendation to include the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger, the World Heritage Committee requested the States Parties to take urgent actions to address the concerns.

IUCN welcomed the progress reported for many World Heritage sites, and made technical recommendations on the state of conservation for sites that continue to face threats and pressures such as climate change, armed conflict, infrastructure development, invasive alien species, or tourism pressure. Several sites may meet the conditions for inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger in future, should conservation measures not be implemented.

As the World Heritage Committee now transitions to deliberate potential new World Heritage inscriptions, IUCN continues to provide technical advice on conservation matters to support the Committee and States Parties to effectively protect and manage our shared Outstanding Universal Value for humankind.

For more information about IUCN’s coverage of the World Heritage Committee meeting: Protecting chimps, hippos and turtles – IUCN recommends five new World Heritage areas - Press release | IUCN