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WORLD HERITAGE SITES
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| South Africa's World
Heritage Sites: World Heritage Sites recognise and protect areas of outstanding
natural, historical and cultural value. Given South Africa's diverse culture and history
and her spectacular natural resources and wildlife, it is not surprising that she boasts 8
World Heritage Sites. |
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Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we
live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural
heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and
diverse as the wilds of East Africa’s Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great
Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our
world’s heritage.
What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World
Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on
which they are located.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) seeks to
encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage
around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. This is embodied in an
international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.
UNESCO's World Heritage mission is to:
» encourage countries to sign the World Heritage Convention and to ensure the
protection of their natural and cultural heritage;
» encourage States Parties to the Convention to nominate sites within their
national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List;
» encourage States Parties to establish management plans and set up reporting
systems on the state of conservation of their World Heritage sites;
» help States Parties safeguard World Heritage properties by providing technical
assistance and professional training;
» provide emergency assistance for World Heritage sites in immediate danger;
» support States Parties' public awareness-building activities for World Heritage
conservation;
» encourage participation of the local population in the preservation of their
cultural and natural heritage;
» encourage international co-operation in the conservation of our world's cultural
and natural heritage. |
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South Africa's World Heritage Sites: World
Heritage Sites recognise and protect areas of outstanding natural, historical and cultural
value. Given South Africa's diverse culture and history and her spectacular natural
resources and wildlife, it is not surprising that she boasts 8 World
Heritage Sites. They are:
Cultural
» Fossil Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and
Environs (1999)
» Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape (2003)
» Robben Island (1999)
» Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape (2007)
Mixed
» UKhahlamba / Drakensberg Park (2000)
Natural
» Cape Floral Region Protected Areas (2004)
» Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park (1999)
» Vredefort Dome (2005) |
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  Go to » Richtersveld Cultural &
Botanical Landscape: Recently inscribed as the eighth World
Heritage Site in South Africa, the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape is a
remarkable mountainous desert in the north-west of the country that is uniquely owned and
managed by the Nama ... Additional Information » |
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Greater St Lucia Wetland
Park: KwaZulu Natal. The ongoing fluvial, marine and aeolian processes in the site
have produced a variety of landforms, including coral reefs, long sandy beaches, coastal
dunes, lake systems, swamps, and extensive reed and papyrus wetlands. The ... Additional Information »
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Cape Floral Region Protected
Areas: Western Cape Province. A serial site in the Cape Province, South Africa, made
up of eight protected areas, covering 553,000-ha. The Cape Floral Region is one of the
richest areas for plants in the world. It represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa
but is ... Additional
Information »
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Cradle of Humankind: The Fossil
Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and Environs in Gauteng and North
West Province. These sites have produced abundant scientific information on the evolution
of the human being over the past 3.5 million years, his way of life, and the ... Additional Information »
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Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape:
Limpopo Province. Mapungubwe is set hard against the northern border of South Africa,
joining Zimbabwe and Botswana. Mapungubwe developed into the largest kingdom in the
sub-continent before it was abandoned in the 14th century. What ... Additional Information »
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Robben Island WHS: Western Cape
Province. Robben Island was used at various times between the 17th and 20th
centuries as a prison, a hospital for socially unacceptable groups and a military base.
Its buildings, particularly those of the late 20th century such as the maximum security
prison ... Additional Information
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UKhahlamba / Drakensberg
Park: KwaZulu Natal Province. The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park has exceptional natural
beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden
sandstone ramparts. Rolling high altitude grasslands, the pristine steep-sided river ... Additional Information »
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Vredefort Dome: Free State
Province, South Africa. The Vredefort dome is the oldest and largest meteorite impact site
(Asrobleme) in the world. Formed an estimated 2000 million years ago when a gigantic
meteorite (larger than Table Mountain) hit the earth close to where Vredefort is ... Additional Information »
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« South
Africa Lodges | South Africa Backpackers » |
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With 20 National Parks
(including two of the world's most famous wildlife reserves, the Kruger Park &
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) & numerous private game reserves, your trip to South
Africa would be incomplete without experiencing a South African wildlife safari .... |
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