Small Island States’ World Heritage: A Historic Turning Point

The 48th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Busan, Republic of Korea, from July 19-29, 2026, has marked a historic milestone for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The session saw 25 new sites inscribed on the World Heritage List—bringing the total to 1,273 sites across 173 countries—and, for the first time, three nations joined the list: Comoros, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Sudan. Among the most significant developments was the adoption of a landmark World Heritage Strategy for SIDS 2026–2034, backed by a US$13 million budget and designed to ensure these island nations’ full participation in the global heritage system.

Why Small Island States Matter

Small Island Developing States are islands located in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. They are home to more than 70 million people and safeguard some of the world’s most extraordinary natural and cultural wealth, including approximately 30% of the planet’s seas. As People’s Daily describes them, these nations possess “white-sand atolls, cloud-covered mountains, historic ports and towns, and agricultural landscapes.”

Recognized as a distinct group of developing countries at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, SIDS share common challenges: small populations, limited resources, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, and vulnerability to external shocks. Since 2005, when the 29th World Heritage Committee session established the SIDS World Heritage Programme, these nations have been a priority area for heritage identification and protection.

A Historic Moment for First-Time Inscribers

Two SIDS countries celebrated their first-ever World Heritage inscriptions during the Busan session. On July 25, Comoros’ “Historic Sultanate Medinas” joined the list—a serial property of six historic towns on two islands that originated from urban settlements formed in the 11th century or earlier. The medinas, which developed into city-states between the 14th and 15th centuries, encompass urban layouts, architectural remains, and intangible cultural heritage reflecting the Swahili cultural tradition.

Comoros culture minister Said Mohamed Ali Said called the listing “not a finish line but a starting point,” emphasizing that the medinas “are not just historical sites for us, they are living towns, where people still pray, trade, and celebrate life’s great moments exactly as our ancestors did.” He acknowledged the fragility of the heritage, noting that “uncontrolled urbanisation and ‘modernisation’ have altered them,” but expressed optimism that the listing “places obligations on us, but it also opens doors for us.” Africanews reported on the significance of the inscription.

The following day, São Tomé and Príncipe received its first World Heritage designation: “The Roças of São Tomé and Príncipe: Colonial Agricultural System and Forced Migration.” This serial property comprises six Portuguese colonial-era plantation estates—Monte Café, Água Izé, Diogo Vaz, São João, Sundy, and Belo Monte—that produced coffee and cocoa for international markets. The roças were self-contained settlements integrating farmland, industrial facilities, residential areas, and social infrastructure, including workshops, hospitals, schools, railways, and chapels. Africanews noted that the inscription recognizes both the architectural and agricultural importance of the sites and preserves the memory of thousands of workers brought to the islands under harsh conditions during Portuguese rule.

A Landmark Strategy for the Future

Perhaps the most consequential outcome of the 48th session was the adoption of the World Heritage Strategy for SIDS 2026–2034 on July 21. Developed by UNESCO through an extensive consultation process involving all 39 SIDS States Parties, international experts, and advisory bodies, the strategy is built around four key priorities: strengthening environmental and climate resilience; preserving and enhancing human, technical and financial capacities; improving heritage governance and management; and fostering the engagement of local communities.

Nayef Al-Fayez, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, underscored the strategy’s importance: “With this strategy, UNESCO and the States Parties reaffirm their commitment to ensuring that no country is left behind in benefiting from the opportunities of the World Heritage Convention and addressing the challenges facing their World Heritage sites.”

The strategy sets ambitious targets by 2034, including ensuring at least 80% of heritage sites integrate climate risk assessment and disaster prevention into their management systems, advancing or submitting 10 new World Heritage nominations, and eliminating endangered heritage sites entirely. It will be implemented in three phases, placing communities, young people, and women at the heart of its action.

Persistent Challenges

Despite these advances, the challenges facing SIDS heritage remain formidable. As of the end of 2025, SIDS had 37 heritage sites across 24 countries, with some island nations still lacking any World Heritage designation. Two SIDS sites remain on the List of World Heritage in Danger. According to the 2019-2025 World Heritage conservation status reports, common issues include missing conservation legislation and planning, inadequate management systems, and weak technical and personnel capacity—challenges compounded by development pressure, tourism pressure, resource over-exploitation, and the accelerating impacts of climate change.

A Growing Momentum

The Busan session also adopted the Busan World Heritage Declaration, which added “cooperation” as a new strategic goal to the existing five strategic objectives of the 1972 World Heritage Convention. The declaration emphasizes strengthening international cooperation to address armed conflict, climate change, and development pressures.

Looking ahead, the momentum continues to build. Cook Islands, Maldives, Cuba, and Seychelles have submitted nominations for the 49th session, scheduled for June 27 to July 7, 2027, in Istanbul, Türkiye. The 2021 Fuzhou Declaration had previously called for increased support for SIDS to build a balanced, credible, and geographically representative World Heritage List—a vision that is now taking concrete shape.

What to Watch For

As UNESCO reported, the inscription of three new countries in a single session represents a major milestone for Africa and SIDS, reflecting sustained efforts to make the World Heritage List more representative of the world’s cultural and natural diversity. The success of the SIDS strategy will depend on sustained funding, effective implementation, and genuine community engagement. For the small island states themselves, the ocean that separates them also connects them—and the preservation of their heritage offers a shared foundation for facing the future together.

As the People’s Daily article poetically concluded: “The ocean separates small island states, but also connects them. The protection and transmission of world heritage requires gathering scattered island experiences, so that each site’s civilizational imprint and natural ecology together build a fulcrum for local communities facing the future.” The question now is whether the international community will sustain the momentum to ensure these fragile treasures endure for generations to come.