The UNESCO World Heritage Committee was held from July 2-12, 2017 in Krakow, Poland.
Following the excellent news from the UNESCO World Heritage Committee that officially confirmed Zadar and Šibenik's place on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, Croatia can now say that their beech forests in the National Parks of Northern Velebit and Paklenica will also be a part of UNESCO World Heritage, reports HRTurizam on June 11, 2017.
On July 7, 2017, during the 41st session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the Republic of Croatia was included in the extension of the World Heritage Site of the “Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe."
“This transboundary extension of the World Heritage site of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany (Germany, Slovakia, Ukraine) stretches over 12 countries. Since the end of the last Ice Age, European beech spread from a few isolated refuges in the Alps, Carpathians, Mediterranean and Pyrenees over a short period of a few thousand years in a process that is still ongoing. This successful expansion is related to the tree’s flexibility and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions,” stated UNESCO.
The 12 countries included are Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Ukraine.
The extension of the serial cross-border nomination included 63 areas of beech forests, of which the Republic of Croatia participated in the areas of the National Park's Northern Velebit and Paklenica. There are about 1,289.11 hectares of beech forests that are located in the National Park of Northern Velebit in the reserves of Hajdučki kukovi and Rožanski kukovi and 2,031.87 hectares of forest at the locations of Suva draga-Klimenta and Oglavinovac-Javornik in Paklenica National Park. The exceptional nature of the proposed beech forests in the national parks of Northern Velebit and Paklenica is based on their originality, geographic position, age and size.
Admission to the World Heritage List is confirmation that Croatia's natural beauties are managed to ensure they are protected for future generations. This admission also further confirms that Croatia’s biodiversity and natural beauty is among the richest of the European countries.
