IUCN advises on conservation of more than 50 World Heritage sites at 48th Committee meeting

IUCN has provided technical advice on the state of conservation of more than 50 World Heritage sites that are recognised for their natural heritage being of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) to humankind. IUCN’s reactive monitoring work includes on-ground expert missions, dialogue with States Parties to the Convention, Indigenous Peoples and local communities, civil society, as well as its global network of IUCN expert Commissions and regional offices who inform its statutory reporting to the Committee.

In 2026, IUCN has advised on forest ecosystems of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (Indonesia), Forest Massif of Odzala-Kokoua (Congo) and Białowieża Forest (Belarus, Poland); mountain ecosystems of the Golden Mountains of Altai (Russian Federation) and Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo); freshwater ecosystems of the Natural and Cultural Heritage and the Ohrid Region (Albania, North Macedonia), Lake Baikal (Russian Federation) or Everglades National Park (United States of America); island ecosystems of Socotra Archipelago (Yemen), East Rennell (Solomon Islands) and Gough and Inaccessible Islands (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland); and marine ecosystems of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico), Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Kiribati). Reactive Monitoring missions informing this session include Ha Long Bay-Cat Ba Archipelago (Viet Nam), and Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park (Congo) and Socotra Archipelago (Yemen).

As highlighted in the state of conservation report and IUCN’s opening statement on the item, the OUV of natural World Heritage continues to face increasing cumulative pressures, including from climate change, armed conflict, development pressures, and extractive activities. The importance of scaling up climate action at site-specific, national and global levels remains critical, including accelerated implementation of the Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage and development of tools like the Climate Action Toolkit for World Heritage.

Increasing development pressures such as expanding tourism, major infrastructure projects, and extractive activities continue to require sustainable planning and management practices. Early and strategic planning enables decision makers to implement effective legal protection, governance and management, including project-specific impact assessment processes and strategic level assessment to assess broader cumulative impacts of planning and development decisions. Best practice tools such as the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context and capacity building opportunities offered through the IUCN-ICCROM World Heritage Leadership Programme continue to be encouraged. 

IUCN also continues to emphasise the fundamental importance of a human rights-based approach in the ongoing implementation of the World Heritage Convention, in line with international norms and standards, and to respect and uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in planning and decision making.

Together with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and cultural Advisory Bodies (ICOMOS and ICCROM), IUCN continues to advise the World Heritage Committee and support States Parties in their responsibility to protect and conserve our shared global heritage into the future and ensure the integrity of Convention.

• IUCN’s opening statement on the state of conservation (See 21 July 2026, 2:28:30).
• Site-specific state of conservation reports can be found on the UNESCO website for World Heritage sites on:
  • List of World Heritage in Danger (WHC/26/48.COM/7A, WHC/26/48.COM/7A.Add, WHC/26/48.COM/7A.Add.2, and WHC/26/48.COM/7A.Add.3)
  • World Heritage List (WHC/26/48.COM/7B, WHC/26/48.COM/7B.Add, WHC/26/48.COM/7B.Add.2, WHC/26/48.COM/7B.Add.3).