Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
UNESCO world heritage site
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, encompassing 93 component parts (forests of European beech, Fagus sylvatica) in 18 European countries.[1][2][3] Together, the sites protect the largest and least disturbed forests dominated by the beech tree. In many of these stands, especially those in the Carpathians, beech forests have persisted without interruption or interference since the last ice age. These sites document the undisturbed postglacial repopulation of the species.[1]
Carpathian region
The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians include ten separate massifs located along the 185 km (115 mi) long axis from the Rakhiv mountains and Chornohora ridge in Ukraine over the Poloniny Ridge (Slovakia) to the Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. The Ancient Beech Forests of Germany include five locations, cover 4,391 hectares and were added in 2011.
The Carpathian site covers a total area of 77,971.6 ha (192,672 acres), out of which only 29,278.9 ha (72,350 acres) are part of the actual preserved area, while the rest is considered a "buffer zone". Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians cover areas of Zakarpattia and Prešov Regions. Over 70% of the site is located in Ukraine. The area includes two national parks, and some habitat controlled areas, mostly in Slovakia. Both national parks, along with a neighboring area in Poland, compose a separate biosphere reserve, the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. Besides Havešová, Rožok, and Stužica (all of them located in Bukovské vrchy), there is a fourth component situated in Slovakia, named Kyjovský prales of Vihorlat. Ukrainian locations include Chornohora, Kuziy-Trybushany, Maramarosh,[n 1] Stuzhytsia–Uzhok, Svydovets, and Uholka–Shyrikyi Luh. Only a few of the ten components are accessible to visitors. Stužica is the only one of three locations in Bukovské vrchy (Slovakia) with available hiking trails. In 2017, UNESCO extended the site, adding forests in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.[4] In 2021 UNESCO extended the site again adding forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, France, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland.[5] Then in 2023 further minor extensions were made, including an expansion to the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal site in Austria, and the addition of a forest at Paklenica National Park in Croatia.[6]
List of component parts
Map of the distribution of Fagus sylvatica in Europe (green)
Location of Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests (component clusters) in Europe
The component parts included in the site as of December 2023 are:[1][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][2][3][15]
* Only boundary modification.
Udava (Bukovské Vrchy, Slovakia) was created by modifying the boundary of Stužica before. Falascone (Italy) in turn was named previously Umbra Forest (Foresta Umbra).[13][14][2]
This is a transnational serial nature UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, encompassing 94 component parts (forests) in 18 European countries.[1][2] The total area of component parts is 98,125.15 ha (242,472.5 acres), including buffer zones 392,846.02 ha (970,743.7 acres). The largest total area of component parts is in Ukraine and Romania – 54% total (41% including buffer zones).
Forms of protection
Component parts of this property overlap more or less with various protected areas like national parks, nature reserves, Natura 2000 network.[16][17][18][11][13][19][20] Abbreviations: C – count of component parts in a given cluster N – overlapping with Natura 2000 areas
Tentative list
This forest is placed on the World Heritage Tentative list as a proposal for the expansion of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe site:
^Geographic coordinates corrected from "N49 4 14 E22 3 1" to N49°4’58’’ E22°35’45’’
^ a b"Uholka-Shyrikyi Luh" corrected to "Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh".
^ a b"Strimbu Băiuț" changed to "Strâmbu Băiuț".
^"Gorna Solinka" corrected to "Górna Solinka".
^"Polonina Wetlinska" corrected to "Połonina Wetlińska".
^ a b"Roztochya" corrected to "Roztochchia".
^"Stara reka Reserve[10][12]" corrected to "Steneto Reserve[7][10]".
^"Severen Dzhendem Reserve[10][12]" corrected to "Stara Reka Reserve[7][10]".
^ a b"Peesh skali" corrected to "Peeshti skali".
^Latitude corrected from "N41 143" to N41°14’43’’
^"Cuesta Fria" changed to "Cuesta Fría".
References
^ a b c d"Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe". UNESCO. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
^ a b c dUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage; World Heritage Committee (31 July 2021). "WHC/21/44.COM/18; Decisions adopted during the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee (Fuzhou (China) / Online meeting, 2021); 8B. Nominations to the World Heritage List; Decision: 44 COM 8B.32" (PDF). World Heritage. Vol. 44 COM, Extended forty-fourth session, Fuzhou (China) / Online meeting, 16 - 31July 2021. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 368–372. Retrieved 3 December 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ a b"World Heritage Minor Boundary Modification Proposal – IUCN Technical Evaluation Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine) – ID No. 1133QUINQUIES". IUCN World Heritage Evaluations 2022 and 2023 (WHC/23/45.COM/INF.8B) (PDF). Vol. II: IUCN World Heritage Evaluations 2023. IUCN. 2023. pp. 93–97. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^"Unesco approves the extension of the Carpathian Primary Beech forests".
^"Decisions adopted during the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee" (PDF). 31 July 2021.
^"Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
^ a b cJovanović, Ivana; Dragišić, Aleksandar; Ostojić, Dragana; Krsteski, Biljana (2019). "Beech Forests As World Heritage in Aspect to the Next Extension of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe World Heritage Site". Nature Conservation. 69 (1–2): 15–32. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
^United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage; World Heritage Committee (11 May 2007). "WHC-07/31.COM/8B; Item 8B of the Provisional Agenda: Nominations to the World Heritage List" (PDF). World Heritage. Vol. 31.COM: Thirty first Session, Christchurch, New Zealand, 23 June – 2 July 2007. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved 7 August 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage; World Heritage Committee (6 May 2011). "WHC-11/35.COM/8B; 8B. Nominations to the World Heritage List" (PDF). World Heritage. Vol. 35.COM: Thirty-fifth session, Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, 19 – 29 June 2011. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved 7 August 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ a b c d eUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Committee (19 May 2017). "WHC/17/41.COM/8B; 8B. Nominations to the World Heritage List" (PDF). World Heritage. Vol. 41.COM: Forty first session, Krakow, Poland, 2 12 July 2017. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved 7 August 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ a b"Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe" as extension to the existing Natural World Heritage Site "Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany" (1133bis). Nomination Dossier to the UNESCO for the Inscription on the World Heritage List. IUCN. January 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
^ a b c dUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage; World Heritage Committee (4 June 2021). "WHC/21/44.COM/8B; 8B. Nominations to the World Heritage List". World Heritage. Vol. 31.COM: Extended forty-fourth session, Fuzhou (China) / Online meeting, 16 – 31 July 2021. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved 7 August 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ a b c'Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe' as extension to the existing Natural World Heritage Site 'Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe' (1133ter). Nomination Dossier to the UNESCO for the Inscription on the World Heritage List. IUCN. January 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
^ a b"Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, France, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland – ID N° 1133quater". IUCN World Heritage Evaluations 2021 (WHC/21/44.COM/INF.8B2.ADD); Addendum: IUCN Evaluations of nominations of natural and mixed properties to the World Heritage List; IUCN Report for the World Heritage Committee, extended 44th Session, 16-31 July 2021, Fuzhou (China) / online. IUCN. May 2021. pp. 5–26. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
^Hanns Kirchmeir & Anna Kovarovics, ed. (January 2022). Minor modifications to the boundaries of the UNESCO World Heritage Site 'Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe' (1133quater). Vienna, Austria: Federal Ministry; Republic of Austria; Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
^Beech Primeval Forests of the Carpathians. Nomination dossier 2007 to the UNESCO for the Inscription on the World Heritage List; Nomination of the "Ancient Beech Forests of Germany" as Extension to the World Natural Heritage "Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians" (1133). Nomination Dossier 2011 to the UNESCO for the Inscription on the World Heritage List (PDF). IUCN. 2011 [2007]. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^World Heritage Nomination – IUCN Technical Evaluation Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians (Slovakia and Ukraine) – ID No. 1133. IUCN. May 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^World Heritage Nomination – IUCN Technical Evaluation Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (Germany) – ID No. 1133 bis (Extension of Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians, Slovakia and Ukraine). IUCN. May 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^"Sonianforest". Foundation Sonian Forest. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^"Natura 2000 Network Viewer". European Environment Agency. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
^"Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (Montenegro)". UNESCO. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ancient and primeval beech forests of the Carpathians and other regions of Europe.
"Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 28 September 2008.
