Nature’s crown jewels: An introduction to natural World Heritage

Are you interested in learning about the world’s most outstanding natural places?

Natural World Heritage sites represent some of the planet’s most precious natural areas, which the international community commits to protecting for present and future generations.

Celebrated and prized by humanity as a whole, they are designated as places of “Outstanding Universal Value” under the World Heritage Convention. Natural World Heritage sites include iconic protected areas - ‘household names’ of conservation such as the Serengeti, Galápagos Islands, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef.

Register now for this free open online course to learn more about natural World Heritage sites and the World Heritage Convention - a unique global instrument for nature conservation:

Course details:

🕒 Start date: Anytime

🕒 Duration: 2 - 4 hours

📖 Course type: Self-paced

📖 Course includes: 4 modules, 3 quizzes

🗨️ Languages: English

Fees:              FREE

Registration: OPEN 

Who should attend this course?

• People who are interested in building foundational knowledge on natural World Heritage. No previous training or knowledge of World Heritage is required.

• This course is also relevant for conservationists, States Parties, site management authorities and managers, protected areas practitioners, NGOs, IPOS, the private sector and academia.

Why should you take this course?

• To learn key World Heritage concepts in an easy-to-access, interactive way.

• To discover ways to become involved with the wider community conserving natural World Heritage.

What will you get from this course?

On completion of the course, you will understand:   

• The concept of World Heritage and how it came about

• How a place can become a World Heritage site

• The different types of World Heritage sites: cultural, natural and mixed

• The many actors involved in inscribing, managing and safeguarding natural World Heritage, their roles and why each is important

• IUCN’s key formal role as Advisory Body to the World Heritage Committee

• The benefits of natural World Heritage sites and how they contribute to societies and economies

• The main threats affecting natural World Heritage sites, and how changes in their state of conservation are monitored and tracked

• The role of effective protection and management in safeguarding natural World Heritage sites

• The links between nature and culture in the context of Heritage

• The many resources available for continuing your natural World Heritage learning journey

Course outcome:

• Foundational knowledge of key concepts related to natural World Heritage sites and the mechanisms to conserve them.  

• Awareness of the many resources available for continuing your learning journey on natural World Heritage.

• The opportunity to become an informed and active supporter of World Heritage.

For a successful completion, participants must finish:

• All online modules and activities

• All quizzes

Who is leading the course?

• This course is designed by IUCN experts in natural World Heritage.

• During your learning journey, you will have support from IUCN Academy through the platform. 

This course has been developed by IUCN’s Heritage, Culture and Youth Team. Special thanks goes to the course co-contributors: Matea Osti, Peter Shadie, Célia Zwahlen and Matthew Emslie-Smith.

We extend additional thanks to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and ICCROM for their inputs and publicly-available resources which have been integrated into the course.

Fees:              FREE

Registration: OPEN