Climate change, dams threaten natural World Heritage

Climate change and large dam projects are putting natural World Heritage sites at risk, says International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the official advisory body on nature to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, meeting on June 25 in Bonn, Germany.

This year, for the first time in many years, climate change will be brought to the attention of the World Heritage Committee as a major threat affecting both natural and cultural World Heritage sites. Climate change impact is already evident in 35 of 228 sites inscribed on the World Heritage list for their natural values, according to the IUCN World Heritage Outlook – the first global assessment of natural World Heritage. Climate change could also become the most widespread threat to World Heritage sites in the future.

"Few people are aware of the full scale of the damage being done as a result of climate change, including to some of our planet's most spectacular natural areas," says IUCN Director General Inger Andersen. "We need to take action to address this threat on the ground and at the global level. An ambitious agreement reached by governments meeting at the UN climate talks later this year in Paris can help safeguard our precious World Heritage. The stakes are too high for us to miss what may well be our last window of opportunity."

While only coordinated global efforts can help address the threat of climate change, it is important to increase resilience of the threatened sites by limiting other pressures to a minimum, according to IUCN.

Marine and coastal sites are facing particular challenges due to sea level rise, ocean acidification, and increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events. In Australia's Great Barrier Reef – the world's largest coral reef system – rising water temperatures are causing coral bleaching, and ocean acidification is restricting coral growth and survival. In East Rennell, Solomon Islands, a World Heritage site listed as ‘in danger' due to logging activities, the increasing salinity of Lake Tegano as a result of sea level rise has caused reduced freshwater supply and food shortages for the local communities.

Dams also pose a growing and serious threat to natural World Heritage, as evidenced by IUCN's recommendations to the Committee. This year, 11 natural World Heritage sites threatened by dam projects will be discussed, including several where the impacts come from dams in a neighbouring country. IUCN calls for more effective environmental impact assessment of such projects and improved transboundary cooperation from the earliest stages in order to avoid or minimise the adverse effects of dams on World Heritage.

"Dams can have a huge impact on World Heritage sites, reducing precious natural wetland areas, changing river flows and impacting local communities," says Tim Badman Director of IUCN's World Heritage Programme. "It is essential to consider better alternatives that avoid such constructions where possible, and to properly assess how dams will affect our World Heritage before they are built. Nature transcends national borders, and efforts to preserve what we recognise as our collective heritage must also look beyond national borders."

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee will gather at its annual meeting from 28 June to 8 July in Bonn, Germany, to take decisions on the conservation of World Heritage sites affected by threats and the inscription of potential new sites.

Having prepared monitoring reports on 55 natural World Heritage sites for the meeting, IUCN recommends "in danger" status for Brazil's Cerrado Protected Areas: Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks as a result of inadequate legal protection.

IUCN also recommends the removal of in-danger status of Colombia's Los Katíos National Park thanks to the park management regaining control of the area following civil unrest and armed conflict. Los Katíos hosts exceptional biological diversity, including many endemic and threatened species such as the American Crocodile, Giant Anteater and Central American Tapir.

Eight World Heritage nominations have been evaluated this year by IUCN, which recommends World Heritage status for Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains, major extensions to Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park in Viet Nam and Cape Floral Region Protected Areas in South Africa, as well as changes in the boundaries of Russia's Lena Pillars Nature Park.
  china.org.cn
29/6/15