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A GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF WETLAND AND MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

The following annex is divided into an inventory of World Heritage sites with major wetland and marine values (39 sites) and an inventory of World Heritage sites with secondary wetland and marine values (38 sites). A key/legend is located at the top of each inventory describing other relevant international environmental treaties and designations. The year each site was inscribed as a World Heritage site (WH) along with the criteria (natural heritage criteria i- iv) for which the selection was based is included. Criteria for World Heritage sites is defined into four categories which are described in detail in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention #43-45. Special note is made if the site is designated on the World Heritage Site in Danger List (WD) including the year it was placed on the Danger List. Special note is also made for sites designated under the Ramsar Convention (Ramsar); included in the Montreux Record for Ramsar sites requiring priority attention (MR); listed as a UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve (BR); and/or included in World Wildlife Fund for Nature's (WWF) Global 200 Ecoregions: The Living Planet Campaign (WWF - ecoregion #). WWF Global 200 Ecoregions (1995) is a broader and more recent overview of global biodiversity than the Udvardy system (1975). The WWF ecoregions attempt to identify the most biologically outstanding areas that deserve conservation attention. It is helpful to compare these ecoregions with current World Heritage wetland and marine sites and to locate regions with minimal World Heritage protection (gap areas) at the present, in order to establish a list of wetland and marine sites which may merit consideration for future World Heritage nomination (Table 11). Of the 77 World Heritage sites with wetland and marine values listed in this overview, 59 are located within a WWF Global Ecoregion.

In the inventory text, World Heritage sites with wetland and marine values are listed in rows and categorised by Biogeographic Realm (Udvardy, 1975), which divides the world into the following realms: Nearctic, Palearctic, Afrotropical, Indomalayan, Oceanian, Australian, Antarctic, and Neotropical. In the inventory text, the columns include the country name, the World Heritage site name, the physical area of the World Heritage site in hectares (may differ from the size of the national park or other international designation) as stated in each site's nomination, and the wetland and marine values of the site. Wetland-dependant fauna which are endemic or threatened have been mentioned in the table with the IUCN Red List Categories given in brackets. For World Heritage sites listed years ago, the database cites the IUCN categories current at that time (E, C, R, and I). These are defined in Appendix I. In 1994, the categories were redefined and the new ones (CR, EN, VU, LR) are explained in Appendix II. There may be omissions in the case of a wetland-dependent species which is now classified as threatened, but was not on the former list. IUCN welcomes comments regarding the wetland and marine values of any of the included sites which will be useful in preparation of future revisions of this working paper. Attached are the World Heritage Operational Guidelines #43-45 which cover the criteria for inscription of natural sites on the World Heritage List (Annex 3).