Amt für Naturparke/G. Tappeiner
» The Dolomites –
a UNESCO World Heritage site On 26th June 2009 in Seville, in the course of their 33rd session, the UNESCO World Heritage committee inscribed the Dolomites on the World Natural Heritage List, thus awarding them the highest possible international accolade as a natural property. The Dolomites were classed as unique in the world on account of the beauty of their landscape and their significance for geomorphology and geology. In 1972, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) adopted the “International Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”. Internationally, this is the most important instrument ever implemented by the community of nations to protect its cultural and natural heritage. So far, the World Heritage List comprises 890 properties in 148 countries. Of these, 689 are
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Cultural Heritage sites, and 176 are Natural Heritage sites. A further 25 properties are mixed sites identified as monuments of both cultural and natural significance. Italy has 44 properties on the World Heritage List, although just two are World Natural Heritage sites: the Dolomites and the Aeolian Islands.
The criteria for inclusion on the World Heritage List To be inscribed on the World Heritage List, sites must be considered by the World Heritage committee to be of outstanding and universal historic, artistic or scientific value. In order to be identified as a Natural Heritage site, a property must fulfil at least one of four established criteria: