Story | 19 Feb, 2020
Emergency Recovery Plan could halt catastrophic collapse in world’s freshwater biodiversity
With biodiversity vanishing from rivers, lakes and wetlands at alarming speed, a new scientific paper outlines an Emergency Recovery Plan to reverse the rapid decline in the world’s freshwater species and habitats – and safeguard our life support systems.
Story | 02 Feb, 2020
Cold Winter Deserts of Central Asia among potential World Heritage sites, new IUCN report finds
Cold Winter Deserts in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are among six globally significant biodiversity sites in Central Asia that could potentially qualify for World Heritage status, according to a new report launched today by IUCN, the official advisor on natural World Heritage.
Story | 05 Dec, 2019
IUCN-outsourced paper finds no proof Rufiji dam project can meet Tanzania’s development needs
A strategic environmental assessment meant to guide decisions on the Rufiji hydropower project in Tanzania’s Selous Game Reserve World Heritage site is completely inadequate, according to an independent technical review commissioned and issued today by IUCN. The document does not assess the…
Story | 28 Nov, 2019
Experts call attention to the key role of World Heritage in meeting biodiversity objectives
Experts convened by IUCN have issued a statement on how World Heritage contributes to the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. This includes recommendations specific to World Heritage and its relevance to biodiversity. Negotiations to develop the framework, which will be adopted by the…
Story | 04 Nov, 2019
The Chad Basin, a lifeline for people, nature and peace
The Chad basin, centred around Lake Chad, covers almost 8% of the African continent and is home to over 30 million people. Over half of this population carves a living out of farming, herding and fishing thanks to the…
Story | 30 Sep, 2019
BRIDGE: Hydrodiplomacy in Action
Globally, over 310 lake and river basins stretch across national borders. Around 60% of those lack any type of cooperative management framework. Good transboundary water management is crucial for peace, security, economic development and environmental…
Story | 15 Jul, 2019
UNESCO’s annual World Heritage Committee meeting concluded on 10 July. After gathering input from the IUCN delegation he headed at the Committee, Peter Shadie, Director of IUCN’s World Heritage Programme, captures some take-home messages from the meeting.
Story | 12 Jul, 2019
BRIDGE - Building River Dialogue and Governance: kick off programme 2019-2021
The IUCN BRIDGE programme works towards building river dialogue and governance in transboundary basins. Implemented by IUCN in close collaboration with regional partners, a fourth phase of the programme…
Story | 04 Jul, 2019
Hundreds of assessors and reviewers to take part in the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is gathering input from experts around the globe to complete a new cycle of assessments for the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3. This flagship IUCN report on natural World Heritage will be published in 2020, together with assessments for…
Press release | 03 Jul, 2019
The looming extinction of the vaquita puts Gulf of California on World Heritage danger list
The World Heritage Committee today followed IUCN’s advice to list Mexico’s Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California as a World Heritage site in danger. The site’s population of vaquitas – the world’s smallest and most endangered species of porpoise – has been decimated due to the…