Life On Earth

Jewel in the Crown of Austria

We are applying to UNESCO and the Republic of Austria for Macondo to be considered a World Heritage Site.  “To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.”

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);

Process:

Macondo must first be placed on a Tentative List  by the Austrian State.  Austria has been asked by UNESCO to make an “inventory” of natural and cultural heritage sites located within its boundaries.  This is the “Tentative List.”  The World Heritage Center then offers advice and assistance in preparing an exhaustive nomination file including documentation and maps.  The proposed site is then evaluated by two Advisory Bodies mandated by the World Heritage Convention: 1) The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and 2) the World Conservation Union (IUCN).  There is then a third advisory body after which the intergovernmental World Heritage Committee meets to decide which nominated and evaluated sites make it on to their global list.  They might request more material from the State Party (Republic of Austria).  So the first step for us is the “Tentative List”:

_______

Current Tentative List:

• The City of Graz - Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg (extension to City of Graz - Historic Centre) (08/02/2005)
• National Park “Hohe Tauern” (11/02/2003)
• Cultural Landscape of “Innsbruck-Nordkette/Karwendel” (23/01/2002)
• Iron Trail with Erzberg and the old town of Steyr (23/01/2002)
• Old part of Hall in Tirol (01/08/1994)
• Bregenzerwald (Bregenz Forest) (01/08/1994)
• Abbey of Kremsmünster (01/08/1994)
• Heiligenkreuz Abbey (01/08/1994)
• Hochosterwitz Castle (01/08/1994)
• Cathedral of Gurk (01/08/1994)

 

Current World Heritage Sites in Austria

• Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg (1996)
• Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn (1996)
• Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape (1997)
• Semmering Railway (1998)
• City of Graz - Historic Centre (1999)
• Wachau Cultural Landscape (2000)
• Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (2001) 
• Historic Centre of Vienna (2001)