Introduction
The Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention) was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. It covers both cultural and natural heritage sites.
'Cultural heritage' is a monument, group of buildings or site of historical, aesthetic, archaeological, scientific, ethnological or anthropological value.
'Natural heritage' designates outstanding physical, biological, and geological features; habitats of threatened plants or animal species and areas of value on scientific or aesthetic grounds or from the point of view of conservation.
Natural heritage includes private and publically protected natural areas, zoos, aquaria and botanical gardens, natural habitat, marine ecosystems, sanctuaries, reservoirs etc.
Task
One in five (23%) sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List are natural sites, most often protected areas such as national parks or nature reserves.
Your task for this webquest is to discover the importance of these natural sites, their variety and outstanding universal value, but also the greatest threats they are facing.
Process
Step 1: Look at the images below and see if you recognise some of the sites. What do they have in common? What do you know about each of them? Have you visited some?
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1q7bjGTSlVTZFjsIVQZoBqPcpg71r8J0idUycsEWqJ_I/edit?usp=sharing
Step 2: The video explains the concept of "natural heritage":
Watch the video and decide if the following statemes are true or false:
1. More than 250 natural sites are inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
2. Natural heritage sites are home to unique and endangered species.
3. These natural sites are only valuable for the local community.
4. Many of the natural heritage sites help prevent natural disasters such as floods or landslides.
5. The World Heritage convention aims to protect the cultural sites only.
6. Invasive species, climate change and the negative impacts of tourism are significant threats to natural World Heritage.
7. Oil and gas extraction is allowed in some Natural Heritage Sites.
Step 3: Can you believe that the primary threats to natural world heritage are caused by human activity? It’s true! The human species poses many threats to natural heritage through the different activities we carry out. Some of these threats include climate change, invasive alien species, building of infrastructure, poaching, negative impacts of tourism, and plastic pollution.
Chech the websites below (5 minutes) and then explain to your colleagues (in one minute) why the Natural World Heritage Sites might be affected by these factors:
https://www.mariabaias.com/post/threats-to-natural-heritage
Team 1: climate change
Team 2: building of infrastructure
Team 3: poaching
Team 4: negative impacts of tourism
Team 5: mining
Team 6: invasive species
Step 4:
The Natural World Heritage Sites mentioned below are some of the most beautiful and valuable on our planet.
In multinational teams, create a short presentation of the assigned natural heritage site, including information about: location, importance, outstanding universal value, possible threats & solutions.
Include some pictures as well, to make your presentation more interesting for the audience.
You can use the websites from the first page of your presentation as resources.
You have 15 minutes to design your presentation and 3 minutes to present it in front of your colleagues.
Team 1: Serengeti National Park > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1B4ALuidWAkOEfSNp7hLhrAPWCaNrNaf_pSZwO8M0Wgk/edit?usp=sharing
Team 2: Great Barrier Reef > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OZMCx6Q5dufpGlK12p2ucxuPFayzSHntMxIN-5krqNc/edit?usp=sharing
Team 3: Galapagos Islands > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1onQ7HWTJS_Xh9wV-HAA74xBSYkg7XNUB87j_NUi0C7I/edit?usp=sharing
Team 4: Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zsyJAjpf7l1aXSBboYI_KvepXJ_igz7OFAbBKYHAZjE/edit?usp=sharing
Team 5: Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oeomPrrqP1_gDy-xvvnPNqP5db1XK0CfMFbRJThgIEk/edit?usp=sharing
Team 6: Iguacu National Park > https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FiyxOO7ALorbAhg3QHH0kKPweqvzl1UkYfFfaC8mWKM/edit?usp=sharing
Evaluation
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5. Proof of the universal value and uniqueness of the site
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Conclusion
- Natural World Heritage sites are globally recognised as the most significant protected areas on Earth.
- These sites provide life-supporting benefits to millions of people – 90% of sites provide jobs, two-thirds are crucial sources of water and about half help prevent natural disasters such as floods or landslides.
- Natural World Heritage sites are under increasing pressure from climate change, infrastructure development, mining, poaching and other threats.
- To protect sites from threats, investment in their protection and management is urgently needed.