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After brief introductory comments on the Dasgupta Review, I turn to a subject little discussed in this report, the Convention on Biological Diversity. I explain the many weaknesses of this agreement, and its greatest missed opportunity: a protocol to conserve biodiversity as a global public good. This value of biodiversity represents only a fraction of the total value of conservation, but it’s the fraction that can only be supplied by a global treaty.

East Rennell (part of the island of Rennell, in Solomon Islands) was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998. Its listing was a milestone in the development of the World Heritage Convention regime. It was the first listed World Heritage site in the independent Pacific Island States, and the first place anywhere in the world to be inscribed based on its natural heritage values and its protection under customary law.

In 2006, Papua New Guinea formally nominated seven identified areas for the World Heritage Tentative Listing. To date, none of these areas has been nominated to the World Heritage List. This desktop review examines the seven sites on the Papua New Guinea World Heritage Tentative list and reports on the current knowledge, condition and threats to each of these sites; as well as recommendations made to address identified issues and provide guidance for advancing the "processes of identification, protection, conservation, presentation and rehabilitation of this heritage".