To help maintain the highest possible standards in our delivery, IUCN's work on World Heritage is guided by three fundamental principles:

1. Partnership is paramount. All our activities are carried out in partnership with other organizations and stakeholders, particularly the World Heritage Centre, the other advisory bodies to the Convention (ICOMOS and ICCROM), and State Parties.

2. Sound science is essential. One of the Union's major strengths is its high level of scientific credibility, consistency and objectivity. We maintain this by drawing on the expertise of our scientific networks – particularly the WCPA and UNEP WCMC.

3. Problems require practical solutions. An important part of our work is to identify threats to World Heritage sites, but we aim to go beyond mere reporting to seeking practical and innovative solutions to address these threats.

In its work on World Heritage, IUCN implements initiatives to enhance the role of the World Heritage Convention in protecting the planet’s biodiversity, and to promote effective use of its mechanisms to strengthen the conservation and management of natural World Heritage sites.

IUCN was instrumental in founding the 1972 World Heritage Convention. It was at the 1966 IUCN General Assembly (which has now evolved into the IUCN World Conservation Congress) that the idea of a "World Heritage Trust" was first expressed on the international stage. IUCN went on to draft the Convention together with UNESCO and has since been explicitly recognised as the technical Advisory Body on nature to the World Heritage Committee.

20th anniversary of the founding of IUCN (Septembre 1968) celebrated at UNESCO headquaters Photo: IUCN Photo Library / © UNESCO / R. Lesage

The idea of a "World Heritage Trust" was first expressed on the international stage at the 1966 IUCN General Assembly.

To fulfil its role as Advisory Body, IUCN works closely with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The IUCN World Heritage Programme is in close collaboration with IUCN’s networks of experts – including the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), the Species Survival Commission (SSC), and the Environmental Law Commission – as well as with IUCN’s Global Protected Areas Programme and World Heritage focal points in each of IUCN’s regional offices.

The Programme also works together with a wide variety of partners, including UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the MAVA Foundation, the African World Heritage Fund, the Christensen Fund, the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), and Our Place World Heritage Collection.