Central Highlands of Sri Lanka

Horton Plains National Park

"Sri Pada" Peak Wilderness encompasses the Adam's Peak (Sri Pada)

 Central Highlands of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's highlands are situated in the south-central part of the island. The property comprises the Peak Wilderness Protected Area, the Horton Plains National Park and the Knuckles Conservation Forest. These montane forests, where the land rises to 2,500 metres above sea-level, are home to an extraordinary range of flora and fauna, including several endangered species such as the western-purple-faced langur, the Horton Plains slender loris and the Sri Lankan leopard. The region is considered a super biodiversity hotspot.

• Peak Wilderness Protected Area
• Horton Plains National Park
• Knuckles Conservation Forest

Sri Lanka

N7 27 8.82 E80 48 7.56

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (ix)(x)

Property : 56,844 ha

Buffer zone: 72,645 ha

Ref: 1203

Source:  http://whc.unesco.org

China Danxia

China Danxia is the name given in China to landscapes developed on continental red terrigenous sedimentary beds influenced by endogenous forces (including uplift) and exogenous forces (including weathering and erosion). The inscribed site comprises six areas found in the sub-tropical zone of south-west China. They are characterized by spectacular red cliffs and a range of erosional landforms, including dramatic natural pillars, towers, ravines, valleys and waterfalls. These rugged landscapes have helped to conserve sub-tropical broad-leaved evergreen forests, and host many species of flora and fauna, about 400 of which are considered rare or threatened.

China

N28 25 19 E106 2 33

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (vii)(viii)

Property : 82,151 ha

Buffer zone: 218,357 ha

Ref: 1335

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth”

Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in “The Centre of Heaven and Earth”

Mount Songshang is considered to be the central sacred mountain of China. At the foot of this 1500 metre high mountain, close to the city of Dengfeng in Henan province and spread over a 40 square-kilometre circle, stand eight clusters of buildings and sites, including three Han Que gates - remains of the oldest religious edifices in China -, temples, the Zhougong Sundial Platform and the Dengfeng Observatory. Constructed over the course of nine dynasties, these buildings are reflections of different ways of perceiving the centre of heaven and earth and the power of the mountain as a centre for religious devotion. The historical monuments of Dengfeng include some of the best examples of ancient Chinese buildings devoted to ritual, science, technology and education.

 China

N34 27 31.49 E113 4 3.79

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (iii)(vi)

Property : 825 ha 

Buffer zone: 3,438 ha

Ref: 1305rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Putorana Plateau

 Putorana Plateau

This site coincides with the area of the Putoransky State Nature Reserve, and is located in the central part of the Putorana Plateau in northern Central Siberia. It is situated about 100 km north of the Arctic Circle. The part of the plateau inscribed on the World Heritage List harbours a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems. A major reindeer migration route crosses the property, which represents an exceptional, large-scale and increasingly rare natural phenomenon.

Russian Federation

N69 2 49 E94 9 29

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (vii)(ix)

Property : 1,887,251 ha

Buffer zone: 1,773,300 ha

Ref: 1234rev

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island

Brief Description

The Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island site coincides with the core zone of La Réunion National Park. The property covers more than 100,000 ha or 40 % of La Réunion, an island comprising two adjoining volcanic massifs located in the south-west of the Indian Ocean. Dominated by two towering volcanic peaks, massive walls and three cliff-rimmed cirques, the property includes a great variety of rugged terrain and impressive escarpments, forested gorges and basins creating a visually striking landscape. It is the natural habitat for a wide diversity of plants, presenting a high level of endemism. There are subtropical rainforests, cloud forests and heaths creating a remarkable and visually appealing mosaic of ecosystems and landscape features.

France

S21 5 58 E55 28 48

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (vii)(x)

Property : 105,838 ha

Buffer zone: 11,729 ha

Ref: 1317

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

At-Turaif District in ad-Dir'iyah

Brief Description

This property was the first capital of the Saudi Dynasty, in the heart of the Arabian Penisula, north-west of Riyadh. Founded in the 15th century, it bears witness to the Najdi architectural style, which is specific to the centre of the Arabian peninsula. In the 18th and early 19th century, its political and religious role increased, and the citadel at at-Turaif became the centre of the temporal power of the House of Saud and the spread of the Wahhabi reform inside the Muslim religion. The property includes the remains of many palaces and an urban ensemble built on the edge of the ad-Dir’iyah oasis.

Saudi Arabia

N24 44 2.88 E46 34 20.88

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (iv)(v)(vi)

Property : 29 ha

Buffer zone: 238 ha

Ref: 1329

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

 

Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

The historic urban ensemble of the canal district of Amsterdam was a project for a new ‘port city’ built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. It comprises a network of canals to the west and south of the historic old town and the medieval port that encircled the old town and was accompanied by the repositioning inland of the city’s fortified boundaries, the Singelgracht. This was a long-term programme that involved extending the city by draining the swampland, using a system of canals in concentric arcs and filling in the intermediate spaces. These spaces allowed the development of a homogeneous urban ensemble including gabled houses and numerous monuments. This urban extension was the largest and most homogeneous of its time. It was a model of large-scale town planning, and served as a reference throughout the world until the 19th century.

Netherlands

N52 21 54 E4 53 16

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (i)(ii)(iv)

Property : 198 ha

Buffer zone: 482 ha

Ref: 1349

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Phoenix Islands Protected Area

Brief Description

The Phoenix Island Protected Area (PIPA) is a 408,250 sq.km expanse of marine and terrestrial habitats in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The property encompasses the Phoenix Island Group, one of three island groups in Kiribati, and is the largest designated Marine Protected Area in the world. PIPA conserves one of the world's largest intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems, together with 14 known underwater sea mounts (presumed to be extinct volcanoes) and other deep-sea habitats. The area contains approximately 800 known species of fauna, including about 200 coral species, 500 fish species, 18 marine mammals and 44 bird species. The structure and functioning of PIPA's ecosystems illustrates its pristine nature and importance as a migration route and reservoir. This is the first site in Kiribati to be inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Kiribati

S3 38 59 W172 51 27

Date of Inscription: 2010

Criteria: (vii)(ix)

Property : 40,825,000 ha

Ref: 1325

Source: http://whc.unesco.org

Australian Convict Sites

Brief Description

The property includes a selection of eleven penal sites, among the thousands established by the British Empire on Australian soil in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The sites are spread across Australia, from Fremantle in Western Australia to Kingston and Arthur's Vale on Norfolk Island in the east; and from areas around Sydney in New South Wales in the north, to sites located in Tasmania in the south. Around 166,000 men, women and children were sent to Australia over 80 years between 1787 and 1868, condemned by British justice to transportation to the convict colonies. Each of the sites had a specific purpose, in terms both of punitive imprisonment and of rehabilitation through forced labour to help build the colony. The Australian Convict Sites presents the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts.

  Australia
S33 22 42 E150 59 40
Date of Inscription: 2010
Criteria: (iv)(vi)
Property : 1,503 ha
Buffer zone: 3,747 ha
Ref: 1306

Source: http://whc.unesco.org