Word FileBeech Primeval Forests of Germany
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party.
Germany (Europe and North America) |
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| Date of Submission: | 01/02/2007 |
| Criteria: | (vii)(ix)(x) |
| Category: | Natural |
| Submitted by: | Thuringer Ministerium fur Landwirtschaft, Naturschutz und Umwelt |
| State, Province or Region: | "Lander" Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia |
| Coordinates: | N518 43 E8 58 25 |
| Ref.: | 5119 |
Description
The serial property includes selected core areas of existing protected areas in four German "Lander". The Beech forests, selected for the nomination to the World Heritage List, are the most important examples of Central European beech forests. They represent the last remnants of the natural vegetation of Central Europe. The cluster contains different ecological types of beech forests from the sea shore and glacial plain landscapes up to limestone hills and middle mountains.
Serial property including selected parts of the National Parks Kellerwald-Edersee (Hesse), Jasmund, Miiritz (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) and Hainich (Thuringia) and selected part of the Biosphere reserve.
Schorfheide-Corin - Grumsiner Forst (Brandenburg)
Justification for Outstanding Universal Value
Satements of authenticity and/or integrity
Today deciduous forests cover only a small share of its natural distribution areas. The natural beech forests nominated by Germany represent, together with the locations in the Carpathian Mountains nominated by Ukraine and Slovakia, last remnants of this natural forest ecosystem in the temperate zone.
The proposed German beech forest cluster is of adequate size to ensure the complete representation of the features and processes which convey its significance, and is surrounded by extensive buffer zones.
Comparison with other similar properties
Trees of the genus Fagus also occur in North America, West Asia and East Asia, but there beech forests are of very limited distribution or the beech is one of many tree species in mixed forests. Wide expanses of monodominant beech forests as natural vegetation only occur in Europe.
In Japan the Shirakami-Sanchi World Heritage Site is defined by virgin forests of Fagus crenata, but there are quite different conditions of earth history and evolution. Beech forests of Fagus orientalis occur in the Caucasus and Hyrcanian mountains in remarkable stocks, but they do not have the high diversity of types and the wide spectrum of sites that the European beech forests have.
Worldwide twelve World Natural Heritage Sites are located in deciduous forest regions today. A detailed analysis of European beech forests and comparison with other deciduous forests of the world will be given with the comparative study in the nomination dossier.
The German cluster would complement the nomination of Ukraine and Slovakia with different types of beech forests. It would underline the high diversity of beech forests as a European phenomenon within the temperate deciduous forest zone of the world. And it would emphasize the postglacial expansion as an ongoing ecological process.
Therefore the submission of Primeval Beech forests of Germany to the tentative list shall unconditionally support the nomination of Slovakia and Ukraine.