The importance of UNESCO World Heritage Marine Sites for Global Biodiversity
Facts & Figures
From the largest tropical seabird rookery to the highest shark biomass, or biggest coral reef on the planet, the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention protects some of the most important ocean biodiversity in the world.
World Heritage marine sites are safe havens for many IUCN Red Listed threatened and vulnerable species. They serve as vital stopovers for migratory species and reflect some of the world's highest rates of endemic species.
Yet despite their iconic status, biodiversity across World Heritage marine sites is threatened by local stressors and the global effects of climate change. In a rapidly changing ocean, protecting World Heritage marine sites is vital to preserve some of the world's most irreplaceable species.
Copyrights in chronological order: © George Stoyle / SNH; Octavio Aburto; Michelle Risi; Matt Curnock; Gregory Piper / Ocean Image Bank; Matt Curnock / Ocean Image Bank; Nature Reserve “Wrangel Island”; Erick Higuera; Badi Samaniego / Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation; FAICO / Jose Alejandro Alvarez; UNESCO / Michelle Vanmaele.
Revealing the ocean's mysteries
Despite World Heritage sites’ conservation status, detailed population estimates for many iconic species, such as turtles and sharks, are still absent. Scientists estimate there are between 700,000 and 1 million species in the ocean but only about 240,000 today are known to science.12
New discoveries are regularly made across World Heritage marine sites. A new type of shrimp discovered at Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection (Panama) was recently named after UNESCO as Unesconia coibensis, reflecting the park’s World Heritage status.
UNESCO’s work to protect World Heritage marine sites’ biodiversity
Building resilience for the biodiversity of coral reefs
The Resilient Reefs Initiative is a global partnership to support World Heritage reefs, and the communities that depend on them, to adapt to climate change by reducing local threats.
Monitoring biodiversity through eDNA
At the site level, UNESCO invests in building resilience to climate change and helps sites to measure marine biodiversity through environmental DNA expeditions, a global citizen science initiative in World Heritage marine sites.
Ocean Science Roadmap for Marine World Heritage
The Roadmap reveals that about two thirds of marine World Heritage sites lack the tools to understand how climate change will impact their biodiversity. It identifies science gaps and calls for increased investment.
Copyrights in chronological order: © Joel Johnsson/DBCA; iSimangaliso Wetland Park; Shaun Wolfe / Ocean Image Bank.
Resources
World Heritage
A unique contribution to biodiversity conservation
The first-ever inventory of species living in UNESCO natural World Heritage sites reveals that they alone harbour over 20% of mapped global species richness within just 1% of the Earth's surface. Safeguarding these biodiversity hotspots is crucial to achieving global conservation targets.
References & Sources
Souter, D., Planes, S., Wicquart, J., Logan, M., Obura, D., Staub, F. (2021) Status of coral reefs of the world: 2020 report. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN)/International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).
OBIS (2023) Ocean Biodiversity Information System. Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO. Accessed 12 May 2023.
WoRMS: WoRMS Editorial Board (2023). World Register of Marine Species. Available from https://www.marinespecies.org at VLIZ. Accessed 2023-02-24. doi:10.14284/170
Heritage site info through MarineRegions: UNESCO (2023). Boundaries of UNESCO World Heritage Marine Sites (v02). Available online at https://www.marineregions.org/. https://doi.org/10.14284/592
DecaNet eds. (2023). DecaNet. Unesconia coibensis Anker, 2020. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1418144 on 2023-06-14
Appeltans, W. et al. (2012). The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity. Current Biology, Volume 22, Issue 23, pp 2189-2202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036
1 12% of all marine species occur in World Heritage marine sites
As of 16 May 2023, there are almost 500,000 marine species names available in the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), of which over 242,000 have been scientifically accepted (an accepted name is a valid name, or a name to be considered taxonomically correct). UNESCO’s Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) includes about 180,000 marine species registered in WoRMS, of which almost 30,000 have been observed in World Heritage marine sites and their surrounding buffer zone.
2 35% of all threatened marine species occur in World Heritage marine sites
As of 16 May 2023, just over 17,000 marine species have been assessed by the IUCN Red List. Of the about 1500 marine species which are either critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable, just under 550 have been reported in World Heritage marine sites and their surrounding buffer zone by UNESCO’s Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS).
3 40% of all seabird species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of marine species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS. World Heritage marine sites are home to 243 of 619 species Class Aves (‘seabirds’).
4 60% of all penguin species breed in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of species as reported by the IUCN Penguin Specialist Group. World Heritage marine sites are home to 11 of 18 species Order Sphenisciformes (‘Penguins’).
5 15% of coral reefs by surface area in World Heritage marine sites
6 53% of all hard coral species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Coral reef surface numbers were derived from the “Status of coral reefs of the world: 2020 report. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN)/International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI)”. Species numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS. World Heritage marine sites are home to 899 of 1681 species including both zooxanthellate and azooxanthellate corals of the Order Scleractinia (‘hard coral’).
7 55% of all marine mammal species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS. World Heritage marine sites are home to 77 of 141 species Class Mammalia (‘marine mammals’).
8 60% of all whale-, dolphin-, and porpoise species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS. World Heritage marine sites are home to 54 of 90 species Order Cetartiodactyla (‘whales, dolphins, porpoises’).
9 34% of all marine fish species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS. World Heritage marine sites are home to 6,328 of 18,514 species Class Teleostei.
10 26% of all shark and ray species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites are reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS, for different taxonomic groups. World Heritage marine sites are home to 322 of 1230 species Order Elasmobranchii (‘sharks and rays’).
11 86% of all sea turtle species can be found in World Heritage marine sites
Numbers were obtained by dividing the number of species occurring in World Heritage marine sites as reported by OBIS, by the total number of marine species as reported by WoRMS, for different taxonomic groups. World Heritage marine sites are home to 6 of 7 species Family Cheloniidae and Dermochelyidae (‘sea turtles’).
12 Some scientists estimate there might be between 700,000 and 1 million marine species, of which over 240,000 marine species have already been named: The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity: Current Biology (cell.com)
