After evaluating the 228 places listed as World Natural Heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) said in a report that only 21 percent of those sites show a good conservation perspective.

The document 'Perspective of World Heritage' by IUCN warns that 42 percent of these sites deserve some concern, while eight percent are in a critical condition, the Prensa Latina News Agency reported.

The Great Barrier Reef -which has a reef and marine biodiversity ecosystem at risk-, has been valued as high concern.
The report identifies concerns related to the impacts on biodiversity, such as fishing in Komodo National Park in Indonesia, which threatens the habitat of the Komodo dragon.

Among the places listed in good conservation perspective are the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia; the Mount Huangshan, China; the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch, Switzerland; the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, USA; and Namib Desert, Africa.

The Natural Heritage includes the most important protected areas inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.(KH)