Story | 30 May, 2016
IUCN recommends five World Heritage listings
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, recommends World Heritage status for five sites nominated for their outstanding natural values. The advisory body on natural World Heritage, IUCN also recommends action against major threats in listed natural sites and danger-listing for two…
Story | 04 Mar, 2016
Getting SMART about tackling wildlife crime on the frontline.
With illegal wildlife trade being a core issue of the upcoming IUCN World Conservation Congress 2016, the role and value of SMART conservation software is pertinent. Marking World Wildlife Day March 3 2016, we travel to the Okapi Faunal Reserve in Democratic Republic of Congo to learn more about…
Story | 11 Nov, 2015
IUCN and UNESCO welcome no-go pledge for World Heritage sites by Tullow Oil
IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, the official advisory body on natural World Heritage, and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre have welcomed a new commitment by British company Tullow Oil plc to stay out of World Heritage sites. The firm had received a licence to explore for…
Story | 07 Jul, 2015
Kishore Rao’s 40-year journey through protected areas and World Heritage
As the 39th World Heritage Committee concludes, Kishore Rao steps down for retirement after having headed UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre for over four years. With a background in nature conservation, he has worked on the World Heritage Convention from the perspectives of its secretariat, its…
Press release | 02 Jul, 2015
Jamaica’s first World Heritage listing ups the number of natural sites to 229
The Blue and John Crow Mountains has become Jamaica’s first World Heritage site today, following advice from IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, responsible for evaluating the site’s natural values. Extensions of South Africa’s Cape Floral Region Protected Areas and Viet…
Story | 15 Jun, 2015
On the verge of extinction: A look at endangered species in the Indo-Burma Hotspot
The Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, which covers Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, and parts of southern China, is one of the most biologically rich − and highly threatened − places on the globe.
Story | 08 Jun, 2015
To have healthy oceans we need healthy marine wildlife
According to the United Nations, World Oceans Day is about a healthy planet being based on healthy oceans – so true and in so many ways! The ecological pressures on Earth’s oceans are as diverse and daunting as the storms that can roll across its blue horizons. But there is hope rolling in the…
Story | 14 May, 2015
IUCN recommends action for natural World Heritage in danger
Key recommendations by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, on new and threatened natural World Heritage sites are released today ahead of the World Heritage Committee meeting which takes place in Bonn, Germany from 28 June to 8 July. IUCN recommends that Colombia’s Los…
Story | 16 Apr, 2015
Surveys funded by SOS lead to an increase of the known population of Yuanbaoshan firs
The known population size of the Critically Endangered Yuanbaoshan fir (Abies yuanbaoshanensis) more than doubled following extensive surveys in Yuanbaoshan National Nature Reserve (NNR), China in 2014. IUCN Member, Fauna & Flora International’s Xiaoya Li explains what this discovery means…
Story | 15 Jan, 2015
Mount Huangshan: first World Heritage site on the IUCN Green List
China’s Mount Huangshan was the first World Heritage site to achieve the IUCN Green List of Protected Areas Standard, based on conservation excellence recognised in the IUCN World Heritage Outlook.