World Heritage Sites

1. World Heritage Sites UNESCO and its purpose

2. World Heritage Sites • UNESCO (United Nations Educational & Scientific Organization) recognizes particularly important natural & cultural sites • Called World Heritage Sites • Encourages countries to create parks and preserve spaces to protect wilderness and cultural heritage • Currently 936 sites

3. UNESCO and it’s purpose • In 1945, UNESCO was “created in order to respond to the firm belief of nations, forged by two world wars in less than a generation, that political and economic agreements are not enough to build a lasting peace. Peace must be established on the basis of humanity’s moral and intellectual solidarity.” • UNESCO strives to build networks among nations that enable this kind of solidarity, by: • Mobilizing for education: so that every child, boy or girl, has access to quality education as a fundamental human right and as a prerequisite for human development. • Building intercultural understanding: through protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity. UNESCO created the idea of World Heritage to protect sites of outstanding universal value. • Pursuing scientific cooperation: such as early warning systems for tsunamis or trans-boundary water management agreements, to strengthen ties between nations and societies. • Protecting freedom of expression: an essential condition for democracy, development and human dignity. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco

4. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/ Let’s take a look at the Interactive World Map

5. The Difference: Natural Site • A physical or biological formation that is outstanding for it beauty or scientific value • Natural Landscapes that are “wonders of the world”

6. Tongariro National Park in New Zealand

7. Škocjan Caves in Slovenia

8. Shark Bay in Western Australia

9. The Cape Floral Region in South Africa

10. Cultural Sites • A monument, group of buildings, or other work of nature or humans with outstanding universal value

11. Vézère Valley in France

12. Vézère Valley • The Vézère valley contains 147 prehistoric sites dating from the Palaeolithic and 25 decorated caves. • It is particularly interesting from an ethnological and anthropological, as well as an aesthetic point of view because of its cave paintings, especially those of the Lascaux Cave, whose discovery in 1940 was of great importance for the history of prehistoric art. • The hunting scenes show some 100 animal figures, which are remarkable for their detail, rich colours and lifelike quality.

13. Tikal in Guatemala In the heart of the jungle, surrounded by lush vegetation, lies one of the major sites of Mayan civilization, inhabited from the 6th century B.C. to the 10th century A.D. The ceremonial centre contains superb temples and palaces, and public squares accessed by means of ramps. Remains of dwellings are scattered throughout the surrounding countryside.

14. Route of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela was the supreme goal for countless thousands of pious pilgrims who converged there from all over Europe throughout the Middle Ages. To reach Spain pilgrims had to pass through France, and the group of important historical monuments included in this inscription marks out the four routes by which they did so.

15. Angkor Wat in Cambodia

16. Angkor Angkor is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia. Stretching over some 400 km2, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire, from the 9th to the 15th century. They include the famous Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations. UNESCO has set up a wide-ranging programme to safeguard this symbolic site and its surroundings.

17. Canadian Sites • 19 total (2014) • Nahanni National Park • Rideau Canal • Canadian Rocky Mountain parks • Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump • Old town Lunenberg (NS)

18. Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal, a monumental early 19th-century construction covering 202 km of the Rideau and Cataraqui rivers from Ottawa south to Kingston Harbour on Lake Ontario, was built primarily for strategic military purposes at a time when Great Britain and the United States vied for control of the region. The site, one of the first canals to be designed specifically for steam-powered vessels, also features an ensemble of fortifications. It is the best-preserved example of a slackwater canal in North America, demonstrating the use of this European technology on a large scale. It is the only canal dating from the great North American canal-building era of the early 19th century to remain operational along its original line with most of its structures intact.

19. Old Town Lunenburg Lunenburg is the best surviving example of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Established in 1753, it has retained its original layout and overall appearance, based on a rectangular grid pattern drawn up in the home country. The inhabitants have managed to safeguard the city's identity throughout the centuries by preserving the wooden architecture of the houses, some of which date from the 18th century.