Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California

The Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California constitute a serial property inscribed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List on 14 July 2005, with extensions of its scope in 2007 and 2011. It comprises 244 islands, islets and coastal and marine zones spread along the 1,557 kilometres of the Gulf of California, grouped into twelve protected natural areas across the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Sinaloa and Nayarit.

The Sea of Cortez and its islands are recognised as a natural laboratory for the study of speciation, and practically all the major oceanographic processes found in the world's oceans occur together at the site, which gives it a scientific value hard to match. To that is added exceptional scenic beauty: islands of abrupt relief with high cliffs and sandy beaches contrasting with the desert surroundings and the turquoise waters around them. The number of plant species exceeds that of any other island and marine site on the List, and the property holds 39% of the world's marine mammal species and 33% of its cetaceans.

On 3 July 2019, meeting in Baku, the World Heritage Committee placed the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of the imminent extinction of the vaquita (Phocoena sinus), the porpoise endemic to the upper gulf. From almost 300 animals counted in 2005 the figure had fallen to around ten. The cause is illegal gillnet fishing for totoaba, whose swim bladder feeds an international trade; the vaquitas suffocate in those nets. Mexico has created a refuge area and promoted alternative fishing gear, and the Committee called for stronger enforcement and for transit and destination countries to tackle the illegal totoaba trade.