Mayon Volcano Cultural Landscape

Description

The nominated property contains Mayon Volcano, the highest volcanic peak and the most iconic and remarkable landform along the Bicol Arc, a chain of 12 volcanoes formed by the subduction of the Philippine Belt with the Philippine Sea Plate. Having an almost perfect circular base, political jurisdiction of the volcano is shared by 5 cities and 3 municipalities, cutting across the natural park with its peak at 2,462 masl as its focal point: Legazpi City and Daraga on the south southeast and south portion, respectively; Camalig on the south southwest; Guinobatan on the southwest; Ligao City on the east southwest portion; Tabaco City on the northwest; Malilipot on the northeast portion, and finally Sto. Domingo on the eastern portion.

The nominated property is composed of the following component sites: Mount Mayon Natural Park (5,327.15 Ha); Our Lady of the Gate Parish Church, Daraga, the Ruins of St James the Apostle Parish Church, Cagsawa, Daraga; the Ruins of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Church, Budiao, Daraga; and; St. John the Baptist Parish Church, Camalig.

The area 6 kilometers from the summit is closed to all human activities, with very limited regulated tourism activities allowed with strict regulation and is managed by the Mount Mayon Natural Park protected area management board, while the core zones of the cultural properties are managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Legazpi through their respective parishes.

The total area of the property is 11,639.15 Ha. with 5,327.15 Ha, covering the core and 6 312 Ha for the buffer zone of the natural protected area. The total area of the cultural component sites is 101.53 Ha of which 9.86 Ha comprises the core zone and 91.64 Ha covers the buffer zone.

Justification de la Valeur Universelle Exceptionnelle

The Mayon Volcano Cultural Landscape is an outstanding representative example of the constant interplay between active volcanic landscapes and the communities that live in and around them, with the beautifully symmetrical and conical Mayon Volcano as its centerpiece. This interplay is played out dramatically throughout history, embodied in social strategies managing the risks of living in close proximity to the volcano, resulting in a rich tapestry of tangible and intangible cultural heritage that fixes Mayon as the landscape’s cultural, historic, and economic reference point. Because of this close relationship, Mayon and the dense communities around it become an iconic and an oftentimes notorious reminder of the precarity of living with hazards, while being a testament to the resilience of communities whose choice to live under Mayon’s shadow while cultivating a deep sense of identity and heritage stands as a model for coexistence in a world of increased risks.

The steadily rising incline from the volcano’s 62.5km circumferential base to its dramatic steep slopes reaching upwards 50 degrees just before the crater rim at 2 462 meters is a product of its geomorphology and constant volcanic activity, dominating the landscape with its unusually concave, hyperbolic sine-curve profile that can be seen anywhere along its circumference. This symmetrical morphometry is unrivaled anywhere in the world and achieves an unparalleled level of aesthetic significance given its extremely close proximity to communities, giving birth to a multitude of artistic and literary representations that has helped solidify Mayon as an iconic volcano worldwide.

The volcano’s geologic setting along the highly restive portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire, results in relatively moderate eruption cycles, making it the most active volcano in the Philippines, with more or less 60 Vulcanian-Strombolian eruptions since records began in 1616. These eruptive cycles exhibit good characteristics of open-conduit volcanism, which help ensure that new layers of volcanic material constantly replace any natural deformation common in volcanic landscapes, forming a unique morphometry indicative of the interplay between erosion and eruption throughout its geologic history. This creates a unique natural regulatory system that maintains the volcano’s extraordinarily near-perfect symmetrical shape from almost any vantage point across its 360-degree visual corridor, and are manifested in the different geological deposits dotting the volcano that bear testament to its near-constant activity and influence over communities living around it.

This exceptionally picturesque profile has drawn communities to it, not least also because of the bounties that its slopes and surrounding landscapes provide due to their fertility and the constantly replenishing resource supplies for construction that has stimulated economic development in the area, solidifying the draw the landscape has to generations of settlers, traders, and artistans across history.

These moments of peaceful coexistence have at times been interrupted by violent eruptions that have altered not only the landscape but also the way of life of communities around the volcano. Traces of Mayon’s eruptive past are seared in the remnants of its most destructive episodes in 1814 in the ruins of St. James the Apostle parish church and Our Lady of the Assumption parish church in Cagsawa and Budiao, with evidence of disaster-responsive colonial urban planning and practical use of the landscape for resources in Daraga and Camalig, symbolically represented by Our Lady of the Gate parish church in Daraga and St. John the Baptist church in Camalig. These demonstrate the intimate knowledge of risk that was required to live with the volcano.

This history of learning has evolved and is embodied in the different disaster risk adaptation strategies and hazard monitoring in their planning and development that have been recognized both nationally and internationally. This has resulted in an ingrained sense of vigilance not only in responses to the volcano’s multi-dimensional hazards during its eruptive periods, but also with other hazards that the landscape amplifies, such as frequent tropical cyclones.

This history of flourishing, risk adaptation, and learning through disasters have also resulted in a rich tapestry of both tangible and intangible heritage that have placed the volcano as the central reference point for the historical and cultural development of communities under its shadow. Apart from the multitude of artistic and literary representations that depict the beauty and agro-pastoral life around Mayon, religious life has also developed significantly alongside the volcano’s eruptive history that has served as the communities’ anchor during Mayon’s darkest days. Cultural associations making reference to Mayon’s beauty and eruptive history have also found their way to the local psyche and have diffused into local language and indigenous knowledge, which has also helped communicate essential disaster preparedness principles in more culturally-relevant ways. The living traditions around Mayon in the form of festivals celebrated throughout the year also bear testament to the comprehensive impact the volcano has in the daily lives of the different communities.

This ensemble represents a living laboratory of formal and non-formal responsive risk mitigation systems that has globally-significant implications not only for volcanic societies around the world, but with accepting a reasonable amount of risk and adapting to multi-hazard settings to ensure the continuous flourishing of communities. The Mayon cultural landscape stands as a model of coexistence that bears testament to the adaptive capacity not only of the communities living around it, but also as an example to other communities around the world growing more aware of increased risks because of multi-hazard contexts.

Criterion (v): The Mayon Volcano Cultural Landscape demonstrates a living symbiosis between the constant activity of the volcano and the communities around it, with its component cultural sites as historic reminders and symbols of this back-and-forth between the volcano and the people living around it who through time try to manage the risks associated with living under the shadow of the volcano.

The cultural component sites bear testament to this history of managed risk: first, in terms of the use of abundant volcanic material to construct the churches and as a result of town movements in response to Mayon’s restiveness, such as Our Lady of the Gate parish church in Daraga and St. John the Baptist church in Camalig, and; second, symbolically as reminders of the times that communities were overwhelmed by Mayon’s fury, such as the ruins of St. James the Apostle parish church and Our Lady of the Assumption parish church in Cagsawa and Budiao, respectively.

The churches in Daraga and Camalig demonstrate local practicality with regard to the use of volcanic material made extremely abundant because of Mayon’s constant activity and subsequent steady supply. Our Lady of the Gate parish stands as a good representative example of the marriage of deep cultural rootedness and the use of tough volcanic material, with its salamonica columns being the last of such columns fully intact in the country. St. John the Baptist parish likewise demonstrates that use of abundant material directly after the 1814 eruption to initiate recovery and reconstruction, with the church being one of the first buildings to be constructed after residents obtained a permit to go back in 1837 after finding that Camalig Nuevo, the relocated town, was not economically viable.

The darker side of Mayon’s history is also etched through the ruins that demonstrate the terrible power of the volcano as a result of its most terrifying eruptions, particularly in 1814. Cagsawa and Budiao bear traces of the cataclysmic 1814 eruption which has also reached a level of infamy in Philippine history because of its ferocity and great loss of life. Initial plans were already drawn up as early as 1722 to move the town of Cagsawa Viejo to Cagsawa Nuevo due to the threat of volcanic eruptions, which was eventually renamed Daraga. The 1814 eruption buried the town of Cagsawa Viejo and with it St. James the Apostle Parish Church with a pyroclastic surge that resulted in the loss of 1 200 lives, hastening the complete relocation to Daraga a year later in 1815. The ruins of the baroque style St. James the Apostle parish church in Cagsawa, particularly the upper portions of the convent and the belfry, as well as the walls of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Church in Budiao remain as stark reminders of the dangers of living in close proximity to volcanoes.

This life of managed risk is not only confined to Mayon’s most devastating eruptions but are evidenced by the ongoing and thriving life around the volcano until today, as evidenced by the ongoing use of these churches for both religious reasons and for economic benefit through tourism, as well as the diffusion of that “culture of disaster” into other aspects of risk management for other hazards such as tropical cyclones. This tradition of adaptation lives on in the various risk mitigation systems dotting the landscape, as well as in disaster risk reduction and management systems that have also been recognized internationally.

Criterion (vi): The volcano provides a stunning backdrop to the rich tapestry of intangible heritage that speaks to the centrality of the volcano to people’s lives. This can be seen in the following: the extensive local cosmology putting Mayon as an axis mundi; the interweaving of Christian belief and theology with local indigenous knowledge explaining the volcano’s beauty and wrath, the influence of Mayon and its landscapes to ideas of the idyllic Philippine pastorale; the influence of the landscape on national artists and representations of national identity; the rich cultural diversity as a consequence of living with Mayon through language and festivals, and finally; the contribution of Mayon to the advancement of 19th century volcano science and the ongoing efforts to understand open-vent volcanism better.

Mayon’s beauty and the life around it has been represented in numerous artistic and literary works, becoming a model for agro-pastoral living in the Philippines and has to a certain degree become synonymous with the national identity. Mayon’s imposing scale contrasted to the peaceful pastoral foreground has been the subject of these artistic representations which eventually became representative of the so-called “Philippine Sublime.” This is seen from early travel sketches and lithographic representations as far back as 1792, which has developed in other representations to show not only rural life with the volcano, but also the marshalling of space and town planning prevalent during the Spanish colonial period. This artistic representation reached its zenith in the works of national artist Fernando Amorsolo, whose paintings depict the harmonious relationship between farmers and the volcano, with Mayon increasingly occupying a more symbolic space emblematic of national identity. Apart from visual art, Mayon has become synonymous with Filipino national identity in other media, frequently being featured in global tourism campaigns as well as being represented in monetary denominations.

The interaction between Mayon and the communities around it also form a complex cultural backdrop of syncretism with local indigenous knowledge and Christian theology. Mayon has been the center of local cosmological interpretation in pre-Hispanic epics, with the beauty and wrath of the volcano constantly being used as motifs as a means to convey balance and reverence. The introduction of Christianity brought with it many traditions that also assimilated with local indigenous knowledge about the volcano and the risks of living with an active volcano. Churches have throughout history become evacuation centers during eruptive periods, with religious processions such as the Perdon in response to calamities becoming a staple around the different communities, and prayers such as the Oratio Imperata whose use has become mainstreamed nationally whenever disaster strikes. Local indigenous knowledge has also influenced how people understood risk mitigation, with local stories that also reflect Mayon’s eruption precursors, as well as ordinary language uses of words pertaining to Mayon’s activity.

Mayon has also figured significantly in the development of 19th century volcano science, with Spanish scientists conducting key geological and chemical studies that have aided both in the global understanding of volcanoes and has helped introduce more scientific approaches to volcanic science at the turn of the 19th century, with communiques explaining volcanism that tried to veer away from divine providentialism and superstition. Mayon’s frequent eruptions have also been important in the development of modern volcanology, with the volcano being a subject of numerous studies on morphometry and open-vent volcanism.

Criterion (vii): Mayon volcano stands as an exceptional example of a symmetrical stratovolcano that, due to its very active nature, creates a natural maintenance mechanism that maintains its iconic shape across its 360 -degree visual corridor. The volcano’s imposing hyperbolic sine-curve profile from its base to its 2 462 meter-high summit dominates the landscape and the field of vision of anyone relative to the small summit crater. This curve stretches for approximately 5 kilometers from base to rim, with increasingly angled slopes from 10 degrees at the base to more than 50 degrees near the rim. The volcano tops out at the crater where the curve plateaus and flattens. This profile is immediately perceptible because of its dramatic angles. This impressive shape has been described as the most perfect cone volcano in the world, with volcano morphometrists determining its ellipticity index at 1.04, the lowest among any stratovolcano, with a deviation of 1.2 meters against an average of 21.3 meters among stratovolcanoes, making Mayon unrivaled in terms of symmetry.

Mayon’s open-conduit regulatory system ensures that whatever deformation caused by eruptions will eventually heal due to a combination of the volcano’s relatively young age, the magma’s viscosity, the absence of vent extrusions around its flanks, and even its location in a rainfall and cyclone-prone corridor of the Western Pacific. These influence and eventually erode pyroclastic deposits formed after eruptions, and soften whatever eruptive scars that Mayon may have.

The stunning visual scale of Mayon is an ensemble of aesthetic qualities of exceptional natural beauty and importance, which is also reflected in its designation as a Biosphere Reserve in the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme. Its low-lying slopes and immediate vicinities have for centuries provided fertile soil for stewardship, and the propagation of region-specific flora and fauna, which, despite the challenging conditions provided by the volcano, have thrived and have benefited from processes of ecological succession due to Mayon’s frequent eruptions. The volcano’s varied landscapes from sea to summit create a complex and coherent aesthetic unity against the backdrop of the symmetry of the volcanic structure. The large surface area and the abrupt elevation change to the summit influences the local weather system around the volcano and produce dazzling color, contrast, and shadow variations, creating infinite iterations of its imageability, which are enhanced and made more spectacular during Mayon’s eruptive phase, which has drawn tourists from around the world because of its dramatic nature.

Criterion (viii): Mayon exhibits the outstanding simplicity and typicality of an open conduit basaltic-andesitic stratovolcano, and with its unique geographical location at the boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Philippine Mobile Belt, produces a conical shape whose symmetry is evident across its circumference and represents a significant ongoing geological process in extremely close proximity to communities.

A product of the convergent boundary where the Philippine Mobile Belt subsumes the thinner but heavier Philippine Sea Plate, the volcano is part of a cluster of volcanoes lining the subduction zone between the two plates. Because of its placement in a highly restive portion of the Earth’s crust, Mayon produces a Vulcanian-Strombolian eruption sequence every 3-5 years on average, making it the most active volcano in the Philippine archipelago with 60 eruptions since recordings began in 1616.

Mayon is one of the world’s best examples of an open-conduit volcano – a class of volcanoes only recognized as distinct within the past few decades. Magma in the shallow conduits of open-vent volcanoes constantly get replenished, convecting, and at the surface, never more than a few small earthquakes away from eruption. The magma source for Mayon runs deep at around 100 kilometers and is fed upwards toward the surface in a continuous convection-like process. When magma nears the surface, pressured gas exolves and forms a foam. This magma foam is permeable, so gas escapes continuously, which is visible as the continuous steam plume seen at Mayon. This results in the collapse of the foam and forms solid, crystalline rock that is denser than the rising magma, so it sinks back down the conduit and out of sight. That sinking, in turn, displaces other magma upward, and the cycle goes on and on.

This steady-state behavior of Mayon creates a self-regulatory system where magma never solidifies and plugs the vent, preventing the build-up of extreme pressures and potential ejecta, resulting in its semi-regular and moderately explosive eruptive cycles. This system, while preventing explosive eruptions like that of Krakatoa and Pinatubo, also means that Mayon’s eruption precursors can be subtle and short, so some eruptions might begin before warnings can be given. This has influenced the sociocultural relationships formed with Mayon, as seen in the numerous artistic representations as well as in the evolution of risk reduction strategies through indigenous and institutional means.

Déclarations d’authenticité et/ou d’intégrité

The mixed property contains all the necessary elements that demonstrate the interplay between the volcanic landscape and the communities surrounding it. Apart from the various natural elements within the contiguous protected area boundaries of Mount Mayon Natural Park that express its natural heritage values and aesthetic coherence, the cultural properties that represent the interplay of humans and volcanoes also present a coherent narrative embedded in intangible heritage elements, ruins, and archival evidence that portray the back and forth movement of human communities along the slopes of the volcano, particularly in Camalig and Daraga.

Mayon’s geologic qualities result in a natural regulatory system that prevents any drastic deformation even during eruptive phases, which are further offset because of meteorologically-induced erosion due to its location in the Western Pacific typhoon belt, resulting in rainfall that both smoothens out deformities, as well as provides much-needed moisture along its slopes, creating conditions for sustained ecological succession even during post-eruption barren conditions.

The nominated property’s cultural component sites are likewise intact and whole, being of adequate size to be able to communicate the outstanding universal values they are nominated for. Apart from the actual churches still in use up to today, the ruins particularly in Cagsawa and Budiao, along with the various volcanic ejecta found in their vicinity as well as the pyroclastic layers in the excavation areas convey the history of interaction that communities had especially in Mayon’s worst eruptions.

The cultural component sites’ authenticity is also communicated especially in the architectural styles, building material, and use and function associated with them. These convey the values of cultural interplay, use of local materials coming from the volcano, and the different functions that communities have used the sites for, especially during Mayon’s eruptive periods where they also served as evacuation centers aside from being places of worship. Most crucially, these sites are still in use today for religious gatherings such as for festivals and masses, bearing testament to that ongoing life lived in the shadow of the volcano.

The volcano’s constant activity means that the site is at constant risk of the effects of these eruptive cycles, as well as consequences from socioeconomic activities around the volcano, which can potentially negatively impact the nominated property’s OUV if they are not managed and regulated properly. Furthermore, while the nominated property considers extractive activities to be part of this relationship between human communities and the volcanic landscape, they likewise pose threats that can potentially impact the geological values of the property, particularly in areas that have significant pyroclastic deposits that may have educational and heritage value.

Comparaison avec d’autres biens similaires

Mayon volcano is mentioned in both the 2009 and 2019 IUCN thematic studies on volcanoes as having high potential for world heritage status for various reasons, namely: due to the volcano’s iconic and notorious status, for its potential educational value in communicating volcanic risk, and for more regional representation of geologic features. From this we can surmise four major criteria that straggles the different reasons cited in the thematic studies: (1) symmetrical form that defines its iconic status; (2) the geological processes that allow for this shape to stay constant despite repeated eruptions; (3) the economic, material, and social conditions that are informed and adapted to the conditions of the volcano, and; (4) the tangible and intangible heritage shaped by the volcano. Volcanoes in the World Heritage list, the volcanoes mentioned in the IUCN thematic studies, and select volcanoes chosen for their comparative importance were analyzed vis-à-vis the nominated property.

Mayon ranks among the most symmetric volcanoes in the world, and also has an iconic, parabolic profile. Volcanoes with single, central vents like Mayon are naturally symmetrical, but this symmetry can be easily disturbed by (a) eruption from a flank vent, (b) gravitational collapse of an edifice and incomplete rebuilding of that cone, e.g., at Mount St. Helens in 1980, and an many other stratovolcanoes, (c) strong explosive eruptions, such as those from Krakatau, Pinatubo, or Crater Lake, that literally destroy much of an upper cone; (d) high underlying terrain on one side or another, preventing deposits from being spread evenly around the volcano. The parabolic shape of Mayon and its few counterparts is a result of its magma composition and a mix of its eruptive styles. Most of its erupted magmas are crystal-rich basaltic andesite, intermediate in viscosity between fluid basalts and dome-forming high-silica andesites and dacites. That viscosity allows convection in the conduit and open-vent behavior. It also leads to Strombolian lava fountaining, and extrusion of lava that, after degassing, is more viscous than in Hawaii and can form the steepest, uppermost slopes. Most of these lavas never reach the lower slopes. Flows of fragmental debris, from explosive eruptions and from collapse of steep lava fronts, travel as avalanches down to the lower slopes where they slow and drop their load. Thickest near where they start depositing, they thin outward, hence the parabolic lower slope profile. Torrential rains erode and carry this debris farther downslope as highly mobile lahars, hence the gentlest slopes reaching Legazpi and the sea. Many other volcanoes have similar mixes of explosive and effusive eruptions, but in different proportions or intensities, so they develop different shapes, e.g., gently sloping shield volcanoes of Hawaii, or complexes of steep-sided lava domes like Unzen or Usu in Japan. Given that several volcanoes looking like Mayon (e.g., Kronotsky, Shishaldin, Pavlof) are in cold climates where torrential rains are rare, most of the parabolic shape must be attributed to eruptive processes, and in particular, dynamics of pyroclastic and lava flows. This does not at all ensure that Mayon’s shape will remain forever as this is still dependent on sectoral collapse that may happen in more explosive eruptive events. However, Mayon’s eruptive history points to a regular pattern of eruption that lessens the chances of major deformation.

The concept of open-vent stratovolcanoes originated at Mts. Etna and Stromboli in Italy and was applied in the Philippines to contrast with behavior of Mayon and Pinatubo. Both Mayon and Pinatubo are fed by basaltic magmas from depth, but at different rates, slower at Pinatubo. The result is that between eruptions at Pinatubo, magma that was left in the conduit after eruption solidifies into a strong plug, and magma resupply cannot easily erupt. Magma left in the storage reservoir also evolves and becomes more viscous. Both the volume of magma and the concentration and tonnage of magmatic volatiles accumulate over centuries, fed by magma resupply from depth. When magma is supercharged with volatiles, the eruptions are extremely explosive and enormous. In contrast at Mayon, magma in the conduit never solidifies, so eruptions occur frequently and gases escape continuously. At Mayon, the most explosive eruptions like 1814 and 1897 are of unusually large batches of magma freshly arrived from depth, still with a full load of dissolved volatiles and possibly with a little excess volatile phase. But except for these eruptions, most other eruptions are of partially degassed magma that has lost much of its fizz, so they are smaller and less explosive. This helps to preserve the “perfect” shape of Mayon, and keeps most eruptions from having catastrophic effects on communities. Other open-vent stratovolcanoes that behave similarly to Mayon include Fuego in Guatemala, Momotombo in Nicaragua, Arenal in Costa Rica (from 1968 until it went back to sleep in 2010); Slamet, Merapi, and Semeru in Java, Soputan in Sulawesi, and many more. They are not rare, but they are a distinct class unto themselves, with eruptions large enough to threaten nearby populations, frequent enough to stay fresh in everyone’s mind, and not so large to keep people away entirely. Surprisingly, a few open-vent volcanoes – including Popocatepetl in Mexico since 1995, or Satsuma-Iwojima just south of Kyushu – have dominantly silicic, viscous magma. Open-vent behavior is indicated by strong, continuous, high-temperature degassing and, in the case of Popocatepetl, frequent small dome-forming and explosive eruptions.

People around Mayon have long lived on its cool, fertile slopes, and have responded accordingly to any subsequent activity through town movements. The communities of Budiao and Cagsawa testify to this, sitting well above modern Daraga and Legazpi, who have moved accordingly with Mayon’s more destructive eruptions. Part of their location was to avoid Moro raids, but part was surely for the fertile soils. Aside from this, sand and gravel are of high quality and are a major driver in the economy. Taking an historical view, the population of the whole of Albay in 1814 was roughly 100,000, and in 1897, roughly 200,000, compared to the present population of roughly 1.4 million. This sharp increase in population pushes farmers, especially poor farmers, to move higher and higher on the volcano, to higher risk zones. The situation at Mayon is comparable to that at Merapi and Semeru Volcanoes in Java, as well as Batur and Agung and the ingenious land use of the Balinese with their Subak system. The town movements likewise can also be compared with that of Taal volcano in Batangas, Philippines, where surrounding lakeside towns around Taal lake were forced to move due to Taal’s restiveness in the 20th century. People not only have responded to the volcano’s activity, but they have also influenced how eruptions affect them by constructing disaster mitigation projects and irrigation systems , changing the landscape. This is evident, finally, also in volcanoes like Niyarogongo having communities living in close proximity to them and having done landscape alterations that have affected how eruptions occur.

Finally, the rich tapestry of tangible and intangible cultural heritage have been directly affected by the Mayon’s constant activity, and have resulted in the social construction of belief systems and a diversity of artistic representations of the symbiotic relationship between humans and volcanoes. The intermingling of culture and volcanic activity is not unique to Mayon and can be seen in multiple volcanic landscapes with communities living in close proximity to the volcanoes themselves. One key example is Merapi and the Borobudur and Prambanan temples. Those temples were too massive to move, but after a series of large eruptions in the 7th and 8th centuries AD, both sites and all smaller temples of the area were abandoned (not destroyed), and the Mataram civilization moved to East Java. It was not until the 1800’s when Borobudur was re-discovered and cleared of jungle growth. Prambanan was re-discovered in the 1700s but not restored until the 1900s. While there is still a lack of consensus that volcanic eruptions caused the 10th century exodus, eruptions like those found in the geologic record of that time could easily have caused crop failures. While the civilizations that were located in Borobudur and Prambanan abandoned the area, traces of the divinization of the volcano can still be found in local Javanese culture, with Merapi occupying a central role in the cosmology and divine alignment with the southern ocean and the Kraton, or the royal palace in Yogyakarta. While Mayon only has traces of indigenous belief through the frequent reference of the volcano in Bikolano epics and writings referencing the volcano even from as far as Negros island, the ongoing syncretism with Catholic faith and theology stands out as a prime example of that intermingling with the symbolism of the volcano with human faith. At Mayon, people entreat their (Catholic) patron saints to negotiate with Mayong, the local deity, and/or the Christian God. The terrible power of Mayon is also “encoded” through local practices of piety in times of disaster, most notable the Perdon. This relationship between humans and volcanoes - and subsequently the cycle of creation and destruction that keeps this relationship alive - is also seen in artistic representations. Fujisan immediately comes to mind, with strong management and protection systems in place to ensure that these representations are able to communicate that heritage of relation, and how beauty and aesthetic value becomes the means to portray that relationship. Mayon occupies a central place in what is called the “Philippine sublime,” although this is a term that is only starting to be appreciated as a particular art movement. Fernando Amorsolo’s works are representative of this movement, with Filipino pastoral life being portrayed against the backdrop of a gentle and beautiful but lumbering volcano.

These qualities demonstrate that the nominated property can be comparable to properties either in the World Heritage List already, or with other volcanic landscapes having communities in close proximity to them. What sets Mayon apart is how the self-regulating open-vent mechanism produces effusive eruptions and restive phases to such a degree that it does not completely drive away communities, but become locked in a state where cultural and social life is enriched in the back and forth process of communities adjusting to eruptions, with these same communities subsequently altering the landscape for their benefit and protection. In this regard, the nominated property is iconic, not only because of its form nor its notorious status, but also for the immense geologic and educational value the property is communicating with regard to volcanic and multi-hazard risks.