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World Heritage Resources

IUCN has developed a variety of resources including positions and advice notes on issues related to natural World Heritage sites, Gap studies, and Guidance on impact assessments. 

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This page provides an overview of the following World Heritage resources:

Guidance documents

IUCN has produced a number of guidance documents to assist States Parties in both the nominations process (the revision of Tentative Lists, application of criteria and development of Nomination Dossiers), and for the management of existing World Heritage sites (Geoheritage guidelines, management toolkits and approach to Impact Assessment).

Thematic gap studies

IUCN regularly conducts and updates thematic studies to help States Parties and interested stakeholders assess the potential for nominating candidate sites to the World Heritage List. These include frameworks and general guidance, analyses of possible gaps by type of ecosystem, analysis of possible gaps by region.

Scientific studies and other publications

Building on its extensive networks, IUCN produces scientific publications on a wide variety of topics. 

Policies and Advice notes

IUCN has developed positions and advice notes on issues related to natural World Heritage sites. IUCN works to provide guidance while outlining its position on key issues affecting natural World Heritage sites, such as extractives, logging and large infrastructures, and seeking sustainable solutions.

IUCN resolutions

IUCN Members come together every four years at the World Conservation Congress to take joint decisions on the global conservation agenda, including Resolutions in an effort to redefine priorities for IUCN’s work on World Heritage.

IUCN Academy

Join the IUCN Academy for a free online course to learn more about natural World Heritage sites and what makes them different from other types of protected areas.

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Thematic and regional gap studies

IUCN regularly conducts and updates thematic studies to support States Parties and interested stakeholders in assessing the potential for nominating candidate sites to the World Heritage List. These include frameworks and general guidance, analyses of possible gaps by type of ecosystem, analysis of possible gaps by region.

Guidance documents

Thematic Gap Studies

Regional Gap Studies

 

Scientific studies and other publications

 

Policies

 

Global Biodiversity Framework

The statement, “World Heritage and the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”, aims to support those involved in discussions on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework to better understand the unique contribution of World Heritage to biodiversity conservation. It provides key messages on the relevance of the World Heritage Convention, and how it can be harnessed to support global biodiversity targets post 2020. A set of recommendations is included to help decision-makers integrate specific wording on World Heritage into the framework.

The group of experts who developed the statement identified the elements that can have the most impact on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

 
 

Agenda for World Heritage over the next decade

The sixth IUCN World Parks Congress, IUCN’s landmark global forum on protected areas taking place every 10 years, was organised from 12 to 19 November 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Recognising the global importance of the World Heritage Convention as a rigorous intergovernmental conservation instrument, World Heritage was one of the four cross-cutting themes during this once-in-a-decade event that attracted over 6,000 participants from over 170 countries.

As part of the Promise of Sydney, the flagship outcome document of the Sydney Congress, six recommendations are proposed to guide the World Heritage Convention towards an enhanced role over the next decade.

 

IUCN Resolutions

 

IUCN Members come together every four years at the World Conservation Congress to take joint decisions on the global conservation agenda. Resolutions that are key to IUCN's work on World Heritage include:

These Resolutions remain the cornerstone of the IUCN World Heritage Programme:

 

Mālama Honua – to care for our island Earth

A Statement of Commitments from the Nature-Culture Journey Participants at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, Hawai‘i 2016.

 

Advice notes

 

Mining, oil and gas

IUCN’s position is that mineral and oil and gas exploration and exploitation (including associated infrastructure and activities) is incompatible with the Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage sites and should not be permitted within these sites. If it is outside the boundaries of World Heritage sites, it should not, under any circumstances, have negative impacts on their Outstanding Universal Value. The advice note below aims to provide guidance on IUCN's position.

Additional resource: WWF (2015) Safeguarding Outstanding Natural Value

 

Communities and rights

Addressing community and rights concerns requires long-term processes rather than quick fixes. Throughout its 50-year history, work on communities and rights in the World Heritage context has gradually taken on more importance and received explicit attention.

 

Human rights-based approaches

The Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Convention - IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM - are collaborating to increase understanding and identify effective approaches to the rights dimension in World Heritage work. The goal is to promote the application of “good practice” in relation to human rights and World Heritage, and to develop possible tools to ensure rights issues are appropriately considered, particularly in the nomination and state of conservation processes.