Japanese islands added to UNESCO World Heritage list

UNESCO officially added a number of Japan's southwestern islands to its list of natural World Heritage sites on Monday.

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee decided during an online meeting to add Japan's Amami-Oshima Island and Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, the northern section of Okinawa Island and Iriomote Island in Okinawa Prefecture, following a recommendation in May by a UNESCO advisory panel.

The 43,000 hectare site across four islands is characterised by dense subtropical forests.

The islands are home to diverse ecosystems with a high percentage of globally endangered or rare species, including the Irsiomote cat and Okinawa rail.

The chain of islands becomes Japan's fifth natural World Heritage site.

The Japanese government submitted its original proposal for the World Heritage list in 2017, though rescinded it in after doubts were raised about preservation efforts on the islands.

It later re-worked the proposal and increased steps against invasive species before resubmitting in February 2019.

Seventeen Jomon Era archaeological sites are also set to be added to the World Cultural Heritage list during the session that will run until Saturday.

Japan's total number of World Heritage sites is set to rise to 25.