The World Heritage Programme coordinates IUCN’s work on the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, which is one of the most important global nature conservation instruments.
It evaluates natural World Heritage Sites nominated for World Heritage Status, monitors the state of conservation of existing Sites, implements capacity building initiatives, and provides technical advice to the World Heritage Committee.
The World Heritage Programme also implements initiatives to enhance the role of the World Heritage Convention in protecting the planet’s biodiversity and promote effective use of its mechanisms to strengthen the conservation and management of natural World Heritage sites.
The Programme is managed from IUCN’s international headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, and works in close collaboration with World Heritage focal points in each of IUCN’s regional offices, as well as with the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the IUCN’s Global Protected Areas Programme (GPAP).
We work together with a wide variety of partners, including UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), the MAVA Foundation, the African World Heritage Fund, the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) .
This website gives you access to information on IUCN’s work on World Heritage, including our official role as the Advisory Body on natural heritage to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, our projects on World Heritage, and resources and advice on all matters to do with natural World Heritage Sites.
