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  • Perspective
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Holistic climate change adaptation for World Heritage

Nature Sustainability volume 6, pages 1157–1165 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

World Heritage Sites are facing unprecedented challenges from climate change, posing a threat to their natural and cultural values. In this Perspective, we discuss the impacts of climate change on World Heritage Sites and describe how a systematic pivot to strengthen consideration of three aspects of management can assist conservation of sites. This systematic pivot responds to social and environmental dynamics and requires reinforcing adaptation pathways through (1) integrating pluralistic, evolving values due to climate change; (2) developing and applying holistic methods to recognize connections between cultural and natural values; and (3) ensuring Indigenous leadership, perspectives and pathways.

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Fig. 1: Global breakdown of World Heritage Sites.
Fig. 2: The changing ‘values’ of heritage sites.
Fig. 3: Managing World Heritage values in a changing climate.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Environment. We would like to acknowledge previous work between CSIRO with the Australian Commonwealth Department of Agriculture Water and Environment (DAWE) and Parks Australia who supported research into climate change vulnerability and adaptation. We would like to thank the Australian World Heritage property managers who provided their time and knowledge through numerous discussions. We thank the Indigenous Reference Group (IRG) for the former DAWE project, including B. McNeair, L. Syme, C. Grant, N. Pedrocchi, P. Oakley, A. Stevens, D. Rose, E. Rose, J. Gould, J. Locke and L. Maybanks. Their contribution of time and expertise provided invaluable insights. We also thank L. Visschers and T. Ireland for their generous support to the IRG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO, Environment, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Brenda B. Lin & Michael Dunlop

  2. CSIRO, Environment, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Jess Melbourne-Thomas

  3. Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

    Jess Melbourne-Thomas

  4. Centre for Applied Science, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

    Mandy Hopkins

  5. CSIRO, Environment, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Michael Dunlop

  6. Parks Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Nicholas A. Macgregor & Samuel D. Merson

  7. Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Nicholas A. Macgregor

  8. Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority, Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia

    Caitlin Vertigan

  9. James Cook University, Division of Tropical Environments and Societies, Cairns, Queensland, Australia

    Rosemary Hill

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Contributions

B.B.L., J.M.-T., M.H., M.D., N.A.M., S.D.M., C.V. and R.H. undertook the conceptualization. Visualization was performed by B.B.L., J.M.-T. and R.H. B.B.L. and J.M.-T. wrote the original draft. All authors reviewed and edited the paper.

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Correspondence to Brenda B. Lin.

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Nature Sustainability thanks Alessandra Bonazza, Jim Perry and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Lin, B.B., Melbourne-Thomas, J., Hopkins, M. et al. Holistic climate change adaptation for World Heritage. Nat Sustain 6, 1157–1165 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01153-1

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