Over a billion people depend on more than 2,200 sites designated by UNESCO, covering about 13 million square kilometers across the planet, housing over 60% of mapped species, and absorbing over 700 million tons of carbon per year.
These sites – World Heritage, biosphere reserves, and geoparks – are allies of both climate and biodiversity and drivers of sustainable economic development, according to a global report released on World Food Day.
In an interview, Martin Delaroche, co-author of the report and mission officer at UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme, reveals the main findings.
From Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the mangroves of Noroeste Biosphere Reserve in Peru, passing through the Grand Canal in China, Tehuacan Cuicatlan in Mexico, or the Trifinio Fraternidad transboundary reserve between El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, Martin Delaroche explains what these sites bring concretely to populations and the planet.
Despite their considerable contributions, they remain largely absent from national climate strategies. “Only 5% of nationally determined contributions mention UNESCO sites as allies in the fight against climate change,” he warns.
Mr. Delaroche calls on states to better integrate these sites into their national strategies, as they offer “multiple benefits, not only for the climate, but also for maintaining biodiversity, and above all for creating opportunities and employment.”
(Interview: Martin Delaroche, co-author of the report and mission officer at UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme; words collected by Cristina Silveiro)
