Haryana IFS Officer selected as UNESCO World Heritage reviewer
Dr Vivek Saxena, the senior-most Indian Forest Service officer of the Haryana cadre from the 1991 batch and a regular contributor to The Pioneer, has been selected by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a desk reviewer for UNESCO World Heritage nominations for the 2027 World Heritage Committee session. The recognition that comes as he prepares to retire on July 31, 2026, after a 34-year career with Haryana Forest Department.
IUCN is the official Advisory Body for natural heritage under UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention and provides technical and scientific advice to the World Heritage Committee on nominations for natural and mixed heritage properties across the world. Reviewers are selected on the basis of scientific expertise, professional standing, and sound judgement on the global importance and ecological integrity of nominated sites. Saxena is active member of three IUCN commissions: Species Survival Commission, Commission on Environmental Law, and Commission on Ecosystem Management.
He served as India’s United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification National Coordinator and India’s Scientific Correspondent between 2007 and 2012, during which period he chaired the Asia-Pacific Group at UNCCD COP10 held in Changwon, South Korea, in 2011. Saxena was a Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Global Assessment of Land Degradation and Restoration in 2018, described as authoritative intergovernmental science-policy assessment on ecosystem degradation. He was also shortlisted for an interview for position of Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, a recognition independently accorded by a United Nations Selection Committee. Saxena will evaluate nominations submitted for consideration at 2027 World Heritage Committee session, assessing claims made by nominating countries about integrity, authenticity of sites proposed for World Heritage status.
