The World Heritage Agenda for Nature is a project that aims to capitalize on the biodiversity conservation potential of the World Heritage Convention by promoting effective use of its mechanisms to strengthen the conservation and management of natural World Heritage sites.
This project (2010-2014), supported by the MAVA foundation, is at the heart of IUCN’s vision to increase the effective use of the mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention to achieve conservation successes - not only for natural World Heritage sites, but also for the planet’s network of over 130,000 protected areas.
As a result of IUCN’s role as the technical Advisory Body to the World Heritage Committee on natural heritage, we are centrally placed to enhance the role of the World Heritage Convention in protecting biodiversity.
The project’s objectives are:
1. Effective Management for Conservation: Increase the effective use of the mechanisms of the World Heritage Convention by improving management effectiveness in natural World Heritage Sites and using the management successes achieved in these sites to inspire better management in protected areas world-wide.
2. Better Monitoring: Develop a more comprehensive, focused and proactive ‘monitoring and action’ system for all existing natural World Heritage Sites to ensure that the conservation actions needed to protect these sites’ values are implemented.
3. Credible Site Selection: Actively promote the inclusion of the planet’s most important natural sites on the World Heritage List by providing the appropriate tools and training to national governments and other stakeholders, and by supporting the development of effective management of these sites before and after inscription on the World Heritage List.
4. Climate Change Response Strategies: Ensure that natural World Heritage Sites act as a beacon in communicating the climate change issues facing protected areas, and as pilot areas for developing, testing and disseminating best practice in climate change response strategies.
5. Sustainable financing: Enhance the level of funding to support the effective management of all natural World Heritage Sites and thereby improve and secure their conservation status.
