ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the environmental dimension of sustainable development in World Heritage management with a particular emphasis on natural sites. It also analyses the current state of evidence and explores opportunities to both strengthen management and address the knowledge gaps that need to be filled. The chapter focuses on the implications of linking environmental sustainability and conservation of natural and cultural World Heritage. Cultural World Heritage Sites, whilst outnumbering natural sites by a factor of four to one, are generally considerably smaller in size than natural World Heritage Sites, and not declared for their biodiversity values. Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction are issues that concern both natural and cultural World Heritage sites. Only by maintaining healthy ecosystems can natural World Heritage sites continue to provide the numerous services and benefits they currently offer to both local and global communities. Environmental sustainability, as a whole, needs to be brought to fore within the broadening of the World Heritage mission.
