What makes a place get in the world heritage list??

Question

i have to do an assignment on wet tropics of qld and i have to answer why became a heritage list any help would be nice thanks

Answer 1

SELECTION CRITERIA

- to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;

- to exhibit 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;

- to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;

- to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;

to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;

- to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);

- to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;

- to be outstanding examples 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;

- to be outstanding examples 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;

- to contain 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.

Check out these links:

http://whc.unesco.org/en/criteria/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Herit...

Answer 2

heritage is the culture or civilization which is inherited from our ancestors, like old buildings, symbols, ruins, and even cultures and customs

Answer 3

In order to include any place in the United Nations World Heritage list a justification has to be prepared. The Australian government submits a Justification which is summarized by the IUCN. Following is the official Justification for the Wet Tropics of Queensland prepared in 1988.

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JUSTIFICATION FOR INCLUSION IN THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

The Wet Tropical rain forest nomination, as presented by the Government of Australia, prove the following justification for designation as a World Heritage Site:

Cultural property:

Extant Aboriginal rain forest culture. Aboriginal occupation dates back at least 40,000 years.

Natural property

(i) Earth's evolutionary history. Contains one of the most complete and diverse living records of the major stages in the evolution of land plants, from the very first land plants to higher plants (Gymnosperms and Angiosperms), as well as one of the most important living records of the history of marsupials and songbirds.

(ii) Ongoing geological processes. Levels of species diversity and endemism are exceptionally high, reflecting long-isolated ancient biota of the Australian wet tropics.

(iii) Exceptional natural beauty. One of the most significant regional ecosystems in the world, with outstanding features of natural beauty and magnificent sweeping landscapes. Exceptional is the coastal scenery, which combines tropical rainforest, white sandy beaches and fringing reefs just offshore.

(iv) Habitat of rare and threatened species. Provides the only habitat for numerous rare or threatened species of plants and animals.

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World Heritage Sites are either Cultural,  Natural, or both (mixed). The "Wet Tropics" was submitted by the Australian government as both Cultural and Natural, but in the end it was only designated as "Natural".

Designations of sites can be an extremely political process. I don't know why the "cultural" designation did not make it in the final selection.

The "Wet Tropics" preserves within its borders the only recognized Australian Aboriginal rain-forest culture. It is the only example of a non-literate, indigenous culture in the world with an oral prehistory dating back 10,000-15,000 years.