During the 47^th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held this month in Paris, France, UNESCO announced the inscription of 26 new sites to the World Heritage List for 2025. These include: 21 cultural sites, four natural sites and one mixed site.

Among the newly designated natural sites is the Gola-Tiwai Complex in Sierra Leone – now the country’s first World Heritage Site. This recognition follows a recommendation by Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Partner, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), who serve as the official advisory body on nature under the World Heritage Convention.

Credit: Nick Williams/RSPB (rspb-images.com)

CCI Partner, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) also welcomed the inscription. As a partner of the not-for-profit company Gola Rainforest Conservation, alongside the Government of Sierra Leone, the Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, and the people of the seven Gola chiefdoms, RSPB has long supported conservation efforts in the region.

The Gola-Tiwai Complex is a biodiversity hotspot, home to over 1,000 plant species, 155 mammal species and over 320 bird species, such as the endangered White-neck Picathartes (source: RSPB).

Credit: Guy Shorrock/RSPB (rspb-images.com)

Looking ahead, the IUCN has recommended extending the site, which is currently made up of Gola Rainforest National Park and Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, to also include ecologically connected areas across the border in Liberia – a proposal supported by RSPB and other conservation partners.

CCI Partner, Birdlife International, welcomed the inscription of the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of the Bijagós Archipelago – Omatí Minhô. This is the only active deltaic archipelago on the African Atlantic coast and has a rich biodiversity.

For over a decade, Birdlife International have worked to protect this Important Biodiversity Area (IBA), which provides a critical habitat for more than 870,000 migratory shorebirds including the Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpiper.

The Gola-Tiwai Complex and Bijagós Archipelago join two other natural sites on the UNESCO Natural World Heritage Sites 2025 list:

• Peruaçu River Canyon (Brazil)
• Møns Klint (Denmark)

At CCI, collaboration is central to everything we do. This is a compelling example of how working together can drive meaningful, lasting change.