At its tenth session, the UN Permanent Forum on indigenous issues (UNPFII) made several recommendations relating to UNESCO, its World Heritage Committee and the advisory bodies ICOMOS, ICCROM and IUCN. At the 34th (Brasilia, 2010), 35th (UNESCO, 2011) and 36th (St Petersburg, 2012) sessions of the World Heritage Committee, representatives of the UN Permanent Forum were present as observers and provided statements. The World Heritage Committee developed a vision and strategic action plan for the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention and noted that UNESCO is in the process of preparing a policy with regard to its programmes on indigenous peoples and encouraged these considerations to be included in the theme of the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in 2012 on “World Heritage and Sustainable Development: the Role of Local Communities”.

A specific issue on World Heritage and indigenous peoples has been published as World Heritage Review No.62 to draw the attention of the international community to this important topic. It is available on-line in English, French and Spanish at:http://whc.unesco.org/en/review/62/.

An international expert workshop on the World Heritage Convention and Indigenous Peoples will be held in September 2012 in Denmark hosted by the Danish Agency for Culture, the Government of Greenland and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) as part of the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.