News: The IUCN’s World Heritage Outlook 4 report released earlier this month attributes four biggest threats to the loss of habitats and species in South Asia: climate change, tourism activities, invasive alien species, and roads.
About World Heritage Outlook 4 Report
- It assesses the status and conservation trends of natural and mixed World Heritage sites globally, including India’s seven natural and one mixed sites.
- Published by: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the report is the fourth edition of a periodic evaluation started in 2014.
- Key Findings of Report
- Threats: The Report attributes four biggest threats to the loss of habitats and species in South Asia: climate change, tourism activities, invasive alien species, and roads.
- Categorization of sites: The report categorises the natural sites as “good”, “good with some concerns”, “significant concern”, and “critical”.
- Almost 40% of sites face conservation concerns, with climate change continuing to be the most prevalent threat.
- The percentage of sites with “a positive conservation outlook has decreased significantly.
- Only 57% of these sites have a positive conservation outlook. (from 63% in 2014)
- About India
- Four sites gas been categorized as “good with some concerns” in India:
- The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, Kaziranga National Park, Keoladeo National Park, and Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks.
- Khangchendzonga National Park in Sikkim has been rated “good” in its conservation outlook.
- The expansive Western Ghats and two national parks in India – Assam’s Manas national park and West Bengal’s Sundarbans national park – have been categorised as being of “significant concern” in the report.
- Four sites gas been categorized as “good with some concerns” in India:
