World Heritage Convention

World Heritage Convention:-

India is a member of World Heritage Convention responsible for listing of World Heritage Sites, which include both Cultural and natural sites. 

The World Heritage Convention is a Convention under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 

• Wild Life wing of the Ministry of Environment and Forests is associated with the conservation of the Natural World Heritage sites.

Currently, six natural World Heritage Sites have been recognized by  UNESCO in India, viz., 

1. Nanda Devi National Park, Uttarakhand 
2. Kaziranga National Park, Assam
3. Manas National Park, Assam
4. Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan
5. Sundarbans National Park, West Bengal  
6. Apart from these, the Valley of Flowers National Park has also been included in the list of World Heritage Sites as an extension of Nanda Devi National Park.

Further, a serial cluster of following 39 sites from Western Ghats spread over 4 States have also been inscribed as World Heritage Sites:

Sub-cluster	Site	Site Element Name	Area (km2)	State
Agasthyamalai	1	Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve	895.00	Tamil Nadu
	2	Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary	171.00	Kerala
	3	Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary	128.00	Kerala
	4	Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary	53.00	Kerala
	5	Kulathupuzha Range	200.00	Kerala
	6	Palode Range	165.00	Kerala
		SUB-TOTAL	1,612.00
Periyar	7	Periyar Tiger Reserve	777.00	Kerala
	8	Ranni Forest Division	828.53	Kerala
	9	Konni Forest Division	261.43	Kerala
	10	Achankovil Forest Division	219.90	Kerala
	11	Srivilliputtur Wildlife Sanctuary	485.00	Tamil Nadu
	12	Tirunelveli (North) Forest Division (part)	234.67	Tamil Nadu
		SUB-TOTAL	2,806.53
Anamalai	13	Eravikulam National Park (and proposed extension)	127.00	Kerala
	14	Grass Hills National Park	31.23	Tamil Nadu
	15	Karian Shola National Park	5.03	Tamil Nadu
	16	Karian Shola(part of Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary)	3.77	Kerala
	17	Mankulam Range	52.84	Kerala
	18	Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary	90.44	Kerala
	19	Mannavan Shola	11.26	Kerala
		SUB-TOTAL	321.57
Nilgiri	20	Silent Valley National Park	89.52	Kerala
	21	New Amarambalam Reserved Forest	246.97	Kerala
	22	Mukurti National Park	78.50	Tamil Nadu
	23	Kalikavu Range	117.05	Kerala
	24	Attapadi Reserved Forest	65.75	Kerala
		SUB-TOTAL	597.79
Talacauvery	25	Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary	102.59	Karnataka
	26	Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary	181.29	Karnataka
	27	Talacauvery Wildlife Sanctuary	105.00	Karnataka
	28	Padinalknad Reserved Forest	184.76	Karnataka
	29	Kerti Reserved Forest	79.04	Karnataka
	30	Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary	55.00	Kerala
		SUB-TOTAL	707.68
Kudremukh	31	Kudremukh National Park	600.32	Karnataka
	32	Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary	88.40	Karnataka
	33	Someshwara Reserved Forest	112.92	Karnataka
	34	Agumbe Reserved Forest	57.09	Karnataka
	35	Balahalli Reserved Forest	22.63	Karnataka
		SUB-TOTAL	881.36
Sahyadri	36	Kas Plateau	11.42	Maharashtra
	37	Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary	423.55	Maharashtra
	38	Chandoli National Park	308.90	Maharashtra
	39	Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary	282.35	Maharashtra
		SUB-TOTAL	1,026.22
		GRAND-TOTAL	7,953.15

  

In the 38^th Sessions of the World Heritage Committee meetings held at Doha, the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh was tabled for discussion and was inscribed on to the World Heritage List.

Further, the UNESCO has given in principle concurrence to the proposal of India for establishment of UNESCO Category II Centre for Asia Pacific Region at "Wildlife Institute of India", Dehradun.

• Six new natural heritage sites, viz., Bhitarkanika Conservation area (Orissa), Desert National Park (Rajasthan),  Kangchendzonga National Park (Sikkim), Namdhapha National Park (Arunachal Pradesh), Neora Valley National Park (West Bengal), and Wild Ass Sanctuary, Little Rann of Kutch have been included in the tentative list of World Heritage Site nominations from India.