World Heritage Marine Biodiversity Workshop: Filling Critical Gaps and Promoting Multi-Site Approaches to New Nominations of Tropical Coastal, Marine and Small Island Ecosystems

Workshop participants gathered to assess the marine biodiversity of the tropical realm and identify opportunities to expand World Heritage coverage of areas of Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The primary objectives of the workshop were to:

1. Reach expert consensus on tropical coastal, marine, and small island ecosystems for potential nomination as World Heritage sites.
2. Identify innovative opportunities for applying a multi-site approach (clusters and trans-border nomination) to pilot one or more World Heritage site nominations.

During the workshop, internationally and regionally recognized experts worked together to develop a scientifically-based consensus global list of areas of outstanding universal value for marine biodiversity for further consideration by State Parties to the World Heritage Convention and other interested entities for nominations on the World Heritage List.