Most of the over 100 natural World Heritage sites that are being severely damaged by expanding human infrastructure and land use are in Asia.
This is as per a new study.
India's Manas Wildlife Sanctuary and Nepal's Chitwan National Park are among the most impacted Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS).
Urgent intervention is clearly needed to save these places and their outstanding natural universal values.
Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS), via the formal process run by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation), are globally recognised.
This are considered as containing some of the Earth's most valuable natural assets.
The authors looked at human pressure over time using the updated global Human Footprint criteria, which includes roads, agriculture, urbanisation industrial infrastructure, and deforestation/ forest loss.
They found that the Human Footprint has increased in 63 per cent of Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS) across all continents except Europe over the past 20 years.
The most impacted NWHS were found in Asia.
Even celebrated places like Yellowstone National Park in the US were impacted, losing some six per cent of its forests.
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park that crosses the Canadian and USA border lost almost one quarter of its forested area (23 per cent or 540 km2).
