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Press release 27 May, 2025

Protecting chimps, hippos and turtles – IUCN recommends five new World Heritage areas

From the home of the world’s largest spider, to hotspots for globally threatened sea turtles, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has expressed its support for World Heritage bids for five sites, home to rich geodiversity and biodiversity. 

Areas in Guinea-Bissau, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Mozambique, Sierra Leone and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have put forward as outstanding places for potential World Heritage status. 

If the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) intergovernmental World Heritage Committee follows IUCN's advice when it next meets for its 47th session in July, amazing landscapes, seascapes, and areas of rich geodiversity and biodiversity (including sites protecting up to 850,000 migratory birds, Western Chimpanzees and numerous coral reef fish) will receive World Heritage recognition by being inscribed on the World Heritage list. Inscribing a site on the UNESCO World Heritage List means recognising it as a place of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and committing to its preservation. 

IUCN is the official advisor on nature to the World Heritage Committee. In this role, IUCN recommends the addition of five new World Heritage areas to be listed by UNESCO World Heritage. These include three potential new sites in Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in addition to the extension of existing sites into Lao PDR and Mozambique. 

They are characterised by dense moist rainforests, tropical karst limestone landscapes, coastal and marine areas home to abundant migratory and threatened species, and dramatic mountain beauty. IUCN considers these sites meet the requirements to be declared as being of OUV.  

"There’s a need for greater action on the imbalance of the World Heritage List, and to support regions and countries that are underrepresented,” said Tim Badman, Director of World Heritage at IUCN. “The nomination of these extraordinary sites as World Heritage areas is a positive step towards addressing the gaps on the List and safeguarding some of the planet’s most unique sites for nature and people.”

This year, IUCN (with the support of more than 120 experts across the Union) evaluated eight World Heritage bids in total. The 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee will make the final decision on the listings, based on IUCN’s recommendations, in Paris between the 6 and 16 July. IUCN also assessed the conservation status of over 70 existing World Heritage sites, some of the report for which is released today. 

 

Spotlight on the five areas set to likely become World Heritage sites

Guinea Bissau’s Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of the Bijagos Archipelago – Omatí Minhô boasts marine and intertidal environments, home to an abundance and diversity of species. The archipelago is one of the most important sites for nesting sea turtles and up to 850,000 birds migrating as far as 6000 km from Northern Europe to forage in the Bijagós Archipelago. If inscribed in Paris this July, Omatí Minhô will be Guinea Bissau’s first World Heritage site. 

Sierra Leone’s Gola-Tiwai Complex, with its evergreen and swamp forests, is a stronghold for the globally threatened Western Chimpanzee, Pygmy Hippopotamus and many other emblematic species. As one of the last and largest remaining intact forest blocks in West Africa, the site is vital to almost 500 species of birds and butterflies. If inscribed this July, Gola-Tiwai will be Sierra Leone’s first World Heritage site. 

IUCN also recommends the extension of Viet Nam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park to include Hin Nam No National Park in Lao PDR. Together, the transboundary site would represent one of the best tropical karst systems globally with forested limestone peaks and an extraordinary diversity of caves, hosting highly specialised and endemic species. These include the world’s largest spider by leg span, the Giant Huntsman.

One of the most outstanding coastal wetlands in Africa, IUCN has also recommended expansion of South Africa’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park World Heritage site to include Maputo National Park in Mozambique. The mosaic of colourful coral reefs, white sandy beaches, and extensive seagrass meadows are home to large aggregations of nesting sea turtles, flocks of breeding flamingos and other important waterfowl.  

The breath-taking beauty of Mount Kumgang - Diamond Mountain from the Sea in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea arises from dramatic mountain peaks, with plunging valleys, waterfalls and pools that change colour through the seasons. This dramatic scenery is integral to the landscape’s Korean Buddhist heritage and has inspired many literary and artistic expressions. The site meets at least one natural criterion according to IUCN’s evaluation and is also being proposed for its cultural heritage significance. 

IUCN also evaluated three other sites in Brazil, Denmark and Mongolia, where further attention is required before considering their World Heritage inscription. 

 

Existing natural World Heritage under threat

IUCN’s recommendations also include the first batch of reports on the conservation status of more than 75 of the World Heritage sites facing threats and challenges to their OUV. IUCN monitors a selection of sites each year in collaboration with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). 

This first release of documents includes the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico which is seeing a further decline of the Monarch butterfly population; Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in Kiribati known for its incredible marine life and connections to local communities.  

Sites included in this cycle of reports continue to face significant threats, including from invasive species, unregulated tourism infrastructures and human conflicts. 

All IUCN reports and evaluations, alongside other UNESCO documents, can be found here.