Particularly, the mining plans threaten the Sami people's reindeer herding in the area, since the so-called migration corridors that constitute connections between different grazing areas are not sufficiently protected in the surrounding landscape, according to Unesco.
"Since the mine would have irreversible consequences for both cultural and natural values on the property, Unesco believes that an environmental permit for the mine, which would make it possible to start extraction, should not be approved," writes the UN body in the report, which is based on a site visit from the end of May last year.
In the beginning of last year, the Supreme Administrative Court gave the green light to the government's disputed decision to allow plans for an iron ore mine in Kallak, which the British mining company Beowulf is behind through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jokkmokk Iron.
Unesco has previously criticized the mining plans and stated that they would have an impact on Laponia, which is less than four miles from the deposit.
Laponia covers 9,400 square kilometers of nature in Lapland and consists of several national parks and nature reserves. The area was added to Unesco's World Heritage list in 1996.
