The Outstanding Universal Value is central to every inscription.
UNESCO has ten criteria on which it judges this value. To be inscribed, a site must fulfil at least one of these criteria.
CULTURAL CRITERIA
- (i)
- Human genius
- (ii)
- Interchange of values
- (iii)
- Cultural tradition or civilization
- (iv)
- Building or landscape in human history
- (v)
- Traditional use of land or sea
- (vi)
- Ideas, beliefs or artistic works
NATURAL CRITERIA
- (vii)
- Natural beauty or natural phenomenon
- (viii)
- Earth history
- (ix)
- On-going ecological processes
- (x)
- Significant biodiversity
Examples of sites inscribed under criterion
VIII.
Criterion
VIII has the fewest natural sites inscribed:
In 2022, there were only 93 sites, occurring in 51 countries!
Some of them illustrate tectonic or volcanic phenomena, for example:
- Huascarán Biosphere Reserve, Peru
- Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland
- Three Parallel Rivers of Yunan Protected Areas, China
- Chaîne des Puys — Limagne fault
WHAT IS CRITERION VIII ? Earth history
“to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth's history […]”