Africa, the cradle of humanity, remains underrepresented on the World Heritage List with only 131 sites (12%, including 90 sites in Sub-Saharan Africa and 41 sites in North Africa) Yet the 23 African sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger account for 42% of all sites on the List. Heritage protection on the African continent faces numerous challenges such as armed conflict, terrorism, poaching and illicit trafficking, global warming and natural disasters, uncontrolled urban expansion, unregulated tourism, and mining and oil exploration.
