World Heritage Volcanoes: Classification, gap analysis and recommendations for future listings
Authors: Roberts, J., Casadevall, T. and Tormey, D.
Publisher: IUCN
Abstract:Volcanoes are a true wonder of the planet; they demonstrate geological processes fundamental to understanding how the dynamic Earth works, linking processes in the Earth’s interior with those on its surface. Volcanoes are also central to formation, evolution, and sustaining of biological systems; they form some of our deepest and most significant cultural attachments to the land; and they attract large numbers of visitors for their aesthetic appeal. Volcanoes are among the most easily-recognisable natural areas included on the World Heritage Site list, notable for their combination of geological, biological, cultural, and aesthetic values to communities on every continent. The global recognition of many volcanic landscapes as World Heritage raises important questions for the appropriate guidance of their future representation on the List. As advisory body for natural sites, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) prepares thematic studies in response to such important and programmatic questions, including this Volcano Thematic Study. In particular, at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in 2013, the IUCN was requested: “to revisit and update its thematic study on World Heritage Volcanoes to clearly articulate a short and appropriately balanced list of the strongest remaining volcanic sites with potential for inscription on the World Heritage List...”1 The context for this Volcano Thematic Study is that the World Heritage Convention seeks a representative, balanced and credible World Heritage List of sites (including volcanic sites) that demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). The World Heritage List is not the appropriate international conservation instrument to collect many sites representing very specific values; rather, the List highlights those sites which are demonstrated as truly exceptional at a global scale
Source: Manual