South Africa World Heritage Sites
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the United
Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) s a place with
a special cultural or physical significance. The places can include forests, mountains,
lakes, deserts, monuments, and buildings).
Selection criteria
Cultural criteria
- (i) "represents a masterpiece of human creative genius"
- (ii) "exhibits an important interchange of human values, over a span of time,
or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology,
monumental arts, town-planning, or landscape design"
- (iii) "bears a unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to
a civilization which is living or which has disappeared"
- (iv) "is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural, or technological
ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage in human history"
- (v) "is an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use,
or sea-use which is representative of a culture, or human interaction with the environment
especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change"
- (vi) "is directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions,
with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal
significance"
Natural Criteria
- (vii) "contains superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural
beauty and aesthetic importance"
- (viii) "is an outstanding example representing major stages of Earth's history,
including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development
of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features"
- (ix) "is an outstanding example representing significant on-going ecological
and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh
water, coastal and marine ecosystems, and communities of plants and animals"
- (x) "contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ
conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species
of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation"
A total of 911 world heritage sites are listed, as of 2010: 704
cultural, 180 natural and 27 mixed properties.
South African World Heritage Sites:
Cultural
Mixed
- UKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park (2000)
Natural
- Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (2004)
- Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park (1999)
- Vredefort Dome (2005)
Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site
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