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Research Underscores Role Played by World Heritage Convention in Protecting Biodiversity

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Paris, France, February 2, 2024 / TRAVELINDEX / A UNESCO and IUCN assessment of the status of species reveals that UNESCO World Heritage sites harbour over 20% of mapped global species richness within just 1% of the Earth’s surface. Safeguarding these biodiversity hotspots is essential if the the Kunming – Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is to be achieved. UNESCO is appealing to the 195 States Parties to the Convention to scale up investment in the conservation of their sites, and to nominate all remaining areas key to biodiversity conservation for World Heritage inscription.
Biodiversity in WHS

“This study demonstrates the importance of UNESCO World Heritage sites in protecting biodiversity. These 1,157 sites are not only historically and culturally outstanding, they are also critical to the preservation of the diversity of life on Earth, maintaining essential ecosystem services, and addressing climate disruption.” Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General

The UNESCO and IUCN first-time assessment of the status and trends of species reveals that UNESCO World Heritage sites make up less than 1% of the Earth’s surface, yet they harbour more than 20% of mapped global species richness, including more than 75,000 species of plants including trees and over 30,000 species of mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles and amphibians.

These sites serve as formidable natural observatories for advancing scientific knowledge thanks to the concentration of over half of all mammals, birds and hard corals species in the world. They are also an endless source of inspiration for new environmental protection initiatives.

The last line of defense against extinction

The World Heritage Convention confers the highest level of international protection to some of the most significant sites for biodiversity conservation in the world. These sites are estimated to protect over 20,000 threatened species, including up to one-third of all elephants, tigers and pandas, and at least one-tenth of great apes, lions and rhinos.

For some species on the brink of extinction, World Heritage sites have become the last line of defense. They are home to all remaining Javan Rhinos, Vaquitas (the world’s smallest cetacean) and Pink Iguanas, as well as more than half of all Sumatran Rhinos, Sumatran Orangutans and Mountain Gorillas.

The World Heritage Convention enables coordinated initiatives with all relevant stakeholders: local populations, national and regional authorities, international organizations, among others – resulting in many conservation success stories. For example, actions undertaken in the Kaziranga National Park (India) and Chitwan National Park (Nepal) since their inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in the mid-1980s have more than doubled the population of Greater one-horned Rhinos to around 4,000 individuals.

Humanity and biodiversity are deeply intertwined

The benefits provided by biodiversity are innumerable and form the bedrock of our relationship with nature. The variety of ecosystems within UNESCO World Heritage sites maintain important environmental services for people, such as protection of water resources, as well as providing jobs and income through sustainable activities. UNESCO World Heritage sites are also instrumental to further strengthen the link between nature and culture, as many cultural sites, including those in urban areas, can also protect important biodiversity and are an ally in efforts to halt nature loss.

The clock is ticking for immediate action

However, there is an urgent need to strengthen conservation measures: every 1°C increase in global temperature could double the number of species threatened by dangerous climate conditions. Given their role as vital biodiversity hotspots, UNESCO World Heritage sites must be protected at all costs by the States Parties of the Convention.

World Heritage sites key to achieving the global objective of halting biodiversity loss

UNESCO encourages member states to prioritize World Heritage sites in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), since they are key to moving the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) into action. The study is an additional tool for site managers to take the necessary actions to achieve these objectives.

By 2025, all World Heritage site managers will be trained in climate change adaptation strategies, and by 2029 all sites will have a climate adaptation plan – as announced by the Director General of UNESCO in November 2022 at the 50th anniversary of the Convention.

UNESCO and IUCN thank Conservation International, the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), the University of Arizona and the University of Connecticut for their contribution to this study.

 

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First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

PATA and UNESCO Launch Online Course to Reduce Plastics in Tourism

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PATA and UNESCO Launch Online Course to Reduce Plastics in Tourism - TRAVELINDEX - SUSTAINABLEFIRST.comBangkok, Thailand, August 8, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / The Pacific Asia Travel Association is pleased to announce the launch of a new online resource for increasing the sustainability of the tourism sector. The course, Targeting Zero Plastics in Tourism Businesses – with UNESCO, PATA & Expedia Group, is launched in conjunction with this year’s PATA Destination Marketing Forum (PDMF), held in Songkhla, Thailand, from August 2-4.

In March 2022, PATA started a collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) with the goal of advising tourism and hospitality businesses on plastic waste reduction. To achieve this, PATA has developed this online course to provide step-wise guidance on minimising the sourcing and consumption of single-use plastics as well as the importance for organisations to sign the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge.

The Pledge, which is a collaboration between UNESCO and Expedia Group, is open and applicable to all tourism businesses, regardless of their size or location. By signing the Pledge, they will be joining a network of leading tourism and hospitality businesses that are helping their destinations in the development of sustainable tourism. “The Sustainable Travel Pledge is particularly timely as we work to build a new kind of tourism in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, by inviting local tourism stakeholders to commit to inclusive and sustainable measures”, said Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture.

“The pandemic caused hardship in tourism destinations worldwide, but also led to severe setbacks in our fight against plastic waste”, said PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera. “Now is the time to take action and strive for a more sustainable tourism and hospitality industry. We’re proud to make this contribution to plastic waste reduction efforts. ”

The amount of plastics we currently produce, consume and dispose of is unsustainable, and tourism activities and hospitality businesses do contribute largely to this issue. In the Mediterranean, for example, marine litter increases up to 40% during tourist peak season (One Planet, 2021), and this poses a threat to tourism destinations themselves.

As put by Ang Choo Pin, Managing Director Asia, Expedia Group, “it is essential for hotels, restaurants, tour operators and all other tourism businesses to reduce the amount of plastics they generate and dispose of the unavoidable plastics responsibly if they wish to protect the very assets they rely on to attract customers”.

Reducing single-use plastics in tourism and hospitality businesses provides not only an opportunity to protect the destination’s ecosystems but also to support the local community and economy, as it is advocated throughout the online course. This is because sourcing local products and using local resources and services in tourism offerings and activities reduces reliance on international supply chains as well as economic leakages. Moreover, local artisanal products are more likely to be made of natural, renewable materials than mass-produced ones.

“The course developed by PATA is an incredible resource for businesses to understand the relationships between communities, culture and environmental protection through plastic waste reduction”, says Dr. Hanh Duong Bich, Program Specialist and Chief of Culture Unit at UNESCO Office in Bangkok. “It gives great guidance and examples on how businesses can help fight plastic waste and at the same time promote local heritage and strengthen local supply chains.”

The course “Targeting Zero Plastics in Tourism Businesses – with UNESCO, PATA & Expedia Group” is open-sourced and available at PATA’s website. Participants can receive a certificate if they achieve the minimum required score in the final quiz. Click here to access the course.

About PATA
Founded in 1951, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a not-for-profit membership association that acts as a catalyst for the responsible development of travel and tourism to, from and within the Asia Pacific region. The Association provides aligned advocacy, insightful research and innovative events to its member organisations, which including government, state and city tourism bodies; international airlines and airports; hospitality organisations, and educational institutions, as well as thousands of young tourism professional (YTP) members across the world. The PATA network also embraces the grassroots activism the PATA Chapters and Student Chapters, who organise numerous travel industry training programmes and business development events across the world. Thousands of travel professionals belong to the 32 local PATA Chapters worldwide, while hundreds of students are members of the 28 PATA Student Chapters globally. The PATAmPOWER platform delivers unrivalled data, forecasts and insights from the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre to members’ desktops and mobile devices anywhere in the world. PATA’s Head Office has been in Bangkok since 1998. The Association also has official offices or representation in Beijing, India and London.

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Blue Safari Seychelles Makes UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge

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Blue Safari Seychelles Makes UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge - VISITSEYCHELLES.org - TRAVELINDEXPraslin, Seychelles, July 24, 2022 / TRAVELINDEX / Set in the heart of the Indian Ocean in one of the world’s last untouched frontiers, Blue Safari Seychelles has signed the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge, which aims to promote sustainable travel, community resilience, and cultural heritage conservation globally. Blue Safari is developing its pioneering new style of experiential travel with active conservation and preservation of this pristine region at its heart. Created in 2019, the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge now has more than 4,200 hotels and travel companies worldwide which have committed to its stringent standards.

Sustainable travel can make this growth of awareness a reality. The UNESCO travel pledge does that by encouraging the five themes of community engagement, energy conservation, water conservation, waste reduction, and single-use plastic reduction. The sustainable pledge is a way for travel companies to publicly commit to the actions they can take to protect local cultures and the natural environment surrounding them.

Central to Blue Safari’s philosophy is its belief in the importance of expanding our horizons through the unique experiences on offer at the secluded Outer Islands in which it operates. Blue Safari provides a unique access point to the rest of the Outer Islands while creating bespoke adventures on land and sea.

Preserving the present to protect the future is a crucial component of enabling people to continue the never-ending journey of exploration and inspiration. Blue Safari believes this alone has the power to connect people with the diverse eco-systems of the sea- and landscapes, and to drive the deep reflection that ultimately creates life-changing perspectives.

Keith Rose-Innes, MD and co-founder of Blue Safari Seychelles commented: “We are proud to sign the UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge in a collaborative effort to preserve the precious ecosystems that make up the Outer Islands for future generations. When we started Blue Safari Seychelles in 2018, we wanted visitors to experience the unique wildlife of this corner of the Indian Ocean close-up, while also investing in conservation through establishing a foundation for each of our four Outer Islands.”

“Our destinations are the most enchanting atolls of the 72 in the Outer Islands. Each guest that stays with us donates $30 a day to the islands’ three foundations, we generate substantial fundraising through trip auctions and donations, we also donate 0.25 percent of our turnover to conservation.”

Blue Safari has also taken the lead in ensuring the company is run as sustainably as possible. Guests will only eat the freshest ingredients, with fish consumption being of that caught only on the island using sustainable methods and 80 percent of the fruit and vegetables grown on Alphonse Island.

“The islands we operate on are self-sustainable,” adds Rose-Innes. “I hope that others will join in signing the UNESCO pledge to make this an industry-wide commitment to ensure we are doing our utmost to protect and conserve our irreplaceable natural world in its fragile eco-system and rehabilitate the indigenous landscapes to make sure our human footprint is a light as possible.”

The UNESCO Sustainable Travel Pledge is free to join and provides a certificate relevant to the entire travel industry whether large or small-scale operators. By signing the Pledge, properties publicly commit to actions that will reduce the environmental impact of their businesses, raising awareness among travellers and helping them make more sustainable travel choices to bring about positive change.

Blue Safari’s philosophy is a combination of sustainable travel with luxury accommodation, where guests can be assured of unforgettable experiences combined with the highest level of attentive service, whilst keeping conservation at the forefront of what we do.

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Phetchaburi Honoured with UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Status

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Phetchaburi Honoured with UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Status - TRAVELINDEXPhetchaburi, Thailand, November 26, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is pleased to report that Phetchaburi Province has been accepted as Thailand’s latest member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in the field of Gastronomy.

• Prepare for the Visit Thailand Year 2022 and Visit Thailand – Be Happy, at VisitThailand.net

Phetchaburi is the fifth province in Thailand to have earned the UCCN title, after Phuket was named a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2015, Chiang Mai a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts in 2017, Bangkok a Creative City of Design in 2019 and Sukhothai a Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts in 2019.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said, “The addition of Phetchaburi to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a Creative City of Gastronomy is much welcomed and could not have come at a better time, with Gastronomy featuring as a key element of the ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022’ new tourism marketing campaign.”

Located around 160 km south of Bangkok, Phetchaburi is known for the production of high quality sea salt and key limes, palm sugar, rose apples, pineapples and bananas among other items, giving it the nickname ‘City of Three Tastes’ – for salty, sweet and sour. The farm-to-fork practice is also in use in the province, where farmers deliver fresh produce and seafood direct to food outlets and manufacturers as well as local households.

Phetchaburi is synonymous with a number of local dishes having gained particular popularity and for its production of certain food products. Local recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation, cuisine from the royal courts of Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin, and Chinese and Mon cuisine have combined into dishes unique to Phetchaburi.

Among the well-known dishes that reflect Phetchaburi’s cultural roots are Kaeng Kua Hua Tan (toddy palm curry), Khanom Cheen Thotman (fermented rice-flour noodles with fried fish cake), Khao Chae (rice soaked in water accompanied by a variety of side dishes) and Kuaitiao Nam Daeng (red-soup noodles).

Tourists visiting Phetchaburi can combine the delectable cuisine on offer with exploration of the various attractions. These include Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park or as it’s also known locally Khao Wang (meaning ‘hill with palace’) with its palace and temple buildings on a hill overlooking the city; the temples Wat Mahathat Worawihan, Wat Kamphaeng Laeng, Wat Yai Suwannaram; and picturesque beaches the most famous being Cha-am.

Last but not least, Kaeng Krachan National Park which covers part of Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, and Ratchaburi provinces, at 464,000 hectares is the largest national park in Thailand, and is known for its wildlife watching, hiking and ‘sea of mist’ views during the cooler months of November to February. It is also home to Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex which was recently added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

• Prepare for the Visit Thailand Year 2022 and Visit Thailand – Be Happy, at VisitThailand.net

The UCCN was launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. There are seven categories of membership in the network – Crafts and Folk Arts, Media Arts, Film, Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music – which currently numbers around 250 cities worldwide. These cities work together toward a common objective – placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.

First published at TravelCommunication.net

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News

Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan Forest Added to World Heritage List

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Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan Forest Added to World Heritage List

Bangkok, Thailand, July 30, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is pleased to report that Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex has been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List making it Thailand’s sixth World Heritage Site.

The decision to add Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex was made at the World Heritage Committee’s 44th  session, held online and chaired from Fuzhou, China. The session will continue through to 31 July, 2021.

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Located inside Thailand’s largest national park of the same name, Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex covers 464,000 hectares and spans across the three provinces of Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, and Ratchaburi.

It is the third natural heritage site after Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries was listed in 1991 and Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex in 2005.

UNESCO describes Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex as rich in biodiversity with semi-evergreen/dry evergreen, moist evergreen and some mixed deciduous forest, montane forest, and deciduous dipterocarp forest. The area has abundant birdlife, including several globally threatened species, and is home to the critically endangered Siamese Crocodile, the endangered Asiatic Wild Dog and several other vulnerable wildlife species. There are also eight resident cat species, including the endangered Tiger and Fishing Cat, the vulnerable Clouded Leopard and Marbled Cat, the Jungle Cat, and Leopard Cat.

Thailand’s other three World Heritage List locations are cultural heritage sites; these being Ban Chiang Archaeological Site, Historic City of Ayutthaya, and the Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns.

First published at TravelCommunication.net

First published at TravelNewsHub.com – Global Travel News