World Heritage and the Arctic
© Maksim Antipin / Beringia National Park (Берингия)
4 April 2017, Monaco -- The Arctic Ocean urgently needs protection as melting sea ice is opening up previously inaccessible areas to activities such as shipping, bottom trawl fishing and oil exploration, according to a scientific report launched today by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in partnership with the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. The report identifies seven globally significant marine sites in the Arctic Ocean that warrant protection and could potentially qualify for World Heritage status.
“The Arctic Ocean plays a crucial role in shaping global climate and hosts a diverse range of species, many of them threatened,” says Carl Gustaf Lundin, Director of IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar Programme. “The World Heritage Convention has great potential to increase global recognition and protection of the region’s most exceptional habitats.”
“Our Arctic Ocean conservation efforts are not keeping pace with the loss of ice and encroaching economic development, and this is putting our shared heritage in jeopardy,” says Lisa Speer of NRDC. “We need to protect the region’s most important ecological hotspots from industrial fishing, offshore oil and gas development and other damaging human activity to give the region’s globally unique wildlife the best possible chance of survival.”
“The Arctic Ocean’s beauty and bounty are unparalleled,” says Mechtild Rössler, Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre. “From the sea life superhighway of the Bering Strait to the breath-taking fjords of Scoresby Sound, this region is unlike any other on the planet. This new report highlights seven possible treasures in the Arctic Ocean that need conservation efforts to keep pace with climate change.”
The Report Appendices
Russian version available
June 2017
Natural Marine World Heritage in the Arctic Ocean
Report of an expert workshop and review process
With the support of
Arctic Ocean Expert Meeting
© UNESCO/Andreas B. Krueger
World Heritage Arctic Ocean
Expert Meeting
25-26 February 2016
UNESCO HQ, Paris
Arctic Ocean
Photo Gallery
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Supporting Documents
© Hans Henrik Tholstrup / The Natural Museum of Denmark
Partners
© Vladimir Melnik / Open Ocean: Arctic Archpelagos Project
With the support of