EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

World Natural
Heritage
Bialowieza National Park,
Poland, Belarus
Plitvice Lakes National Park,
Croatia
Criterion
for inscription
Justifi cation of the “outstanding universal values”
vii Extensive woodlands containing the watershed between the Baltic and Black
Sea. The forests are composed of indeciduous and deciduous tree species,
accommodating an exceedingly rich fauna like wolf, lynx, otter, and the European
bison.
vii, viii, ix The World Natural Heritage of a karst landscape with giant cataracts and limestone
mountains, caves, and lakes was designated in view of its beauty and the
particular geological and ecologic peculiarities (a host of endemic species).
Pirin National Park, Bulgaria vii, viii, ix Situated at an altitude of one thousand to nearly three thousand metres, is the
gorgeous limestone landscape of the Balkans with its glacial lakes, cataracts,
caverns and pine forests that are home to a number of endemic animal and
plant species of the Pleistocene.
Durmitor National Park,
Montenegro
vii, viii, ix The canyon of the Tara River is Europe’s deepest chasm. Moulded during the
glacial periods, these parts contain subterranean streams and vast pine forests
with embedded clear water lakes. The area boasts a great many endemic species.
Mont Perdu, France, Spain vii, viii The limestone massif of Mont Perdu (3,352 m) is the centre of the World Heritage
site. Alongside its special geological features (two abyssal gorges), the World
Natural and Cultural Heritage represents a meadow landscape which in earlier
times was widespread throughout Europe, yet cannot be found today but in
this particular part of the Pyrenees.
Primeval Beech Forests of the
Carpathians, Slovak Republic
and Ukraine
of the nominated component parts as representatives
of the “Central European Beech
Forests”, which is the reason why they cannot
be seen as substitutes for the latter.
Th ere are no or hardly any appreciable beech
forest portions in the two remaining World
Natural Heritage properties.
Bialowieza National Park
(Poland and Byelorussia, area 147,872 ha;
World Natural Heritage since 1979 and
1992, criterion vii)
Th e national park is characterised by a
relatively large area of natural old-growth
forests which hardly show any human
infl uence. With 12 European main forest
types as well as an exceedingly rich fauna,
woodlands here show the qualities of
typical primeval forests. Fagus sylvatica is
not found in Bialowieza.
3. JUSTIFICATION FOR INSCRIPTION
ix The undisturbed, complex temperate primeval beech forest of the Carpathians
are indispensable to understanding the history and evolution of the genus
Fagus.
Plitvice Lakes National Park
(Croatia, area 19,200 ha, World Natural
Heritage since 1979, criteria vii, viii, ix)
70% of Plitvice is woodlands. 72% of the
overall forest area (9,676 ha) are shaped by
pure Fagus sylvatica stands. Th ese forests
are shelter to bears, wolves, and rare birds.
However, the outstanding universal value
is determined by the gorgeous karst lake
landscapes rather than by the forests. Th e
area ranges from 417 – 2,180 m above sea
level, with the main portion including the
Plitvice lakes being located above 600 m.
Unlike the “Central European Beech Forests”
of the extension nomination, the beech
forests of the Plitvice lakes in the Illyrian
Balkan territory are glacial refuges. Th e
postglacial process of continental expansion
began here. Th e centres of diversity of the
European beech forests can be found here.
Tab. 3.4: World Heritage properties
in the deciduous forest regions
of Europe
Nationale
Naturlandschaften
95