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Formally recognised as the planet’s most significant protected areas, World Heritage sites are regularly assessed and monitored, enabling valuable data to be gathered on a range of factors including protection and management. Assessing all sites listed for their natural values, the IUCN World

The first ever scientific assessment of the amounts of greenhouse gases emitted from and absorbed by forests in UNESCO World Heritage sites has found that at least 10 key sites have been net carbon sources over the past 20 years, meaning that they have given off more carbon than they sequestered, due to pressure from human activity and climate change.

Take part in IUCN World Heritage Outlook sessions at the largest conservation event in the world, taking place online and in Marseille on 3-11 September 2021.

A two part online live event presenting fresh results from the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3

What is the IUCN World Heritage Outlook and how useful do people find it? Find out what others are saying about IUCN's flagship product on natural World Heritage.

Join us on Tuesday 8 December for this online live event presenting fresh results from the IUCN World Heritage Outlook 3. Two sessions will be held to cater for different time zones.

A new paper indicates that impacts on natural World Heritage sites from invasive alien species, such as house mice, Argentine ants and rainbow trout, may be greater than previously assessed.

As the global conservation community rallies around a common ambition – to assess the level of achievement of Aichi Targets and define the post-2020 agenda for biodiversity – the IUCN World Heritage Outlook emerges as a useful indicator of the effectiveness of protected areas.

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 some 250 natural World Heritage sites.

The number of natural World Heritage sites threatened by climate change has grown from 35 to 62 in just three years, with climate change being the fastest growing threat they face, according to a report released today by IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, at the UN climate change conference in Bonn, Germany.