UNESCO and the High Seas

A United Nations-backed report launched today explores the different ways the international treaty governing the inscription of world heritage sites may one day apply to sunken coral islands, floating rainforests, or giant undersea volcanoes, none of which can be considered for listing because they are in the seas outside of any national jurisdiction.

Titled World Heritage in the High Seas: An Idea Whose Time has Come, the report – released by the World Heritage Centre of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) – presents five sites that illustrate different ecosystems that can only be found in the depths of the ocean, according to a UNESCO news release.