UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list is
considered the highest accolade for
commemorating the significance of the Earth's
natural and cultural heritage. The core principle of
World Heritage is the concept of outstanding
universal value to all humanity. Of the criteria for
inscribing a site on the list of World Heritage,
criterion viii applies specifically to geoheritage,
requiring that sites so recognized "be outstanding
examples representing major stages of earth's
history, including the record of life, significant
ongoing geological processes in the development
of landforms, or significant geomorphic or
physiographic features" (UNESCO, 2007).
Only ten per cent of World Heritage sites have been inscribed, even in part, on the basis of criterion viii, and a mere 14 have been inscribed solely on that basis (Calder and Badman, 2009). The Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Fig. 1), inscribed on the list of the world's heritage in 2008, is one of these 14 sites.
Only ten per cent of World Heritage sites have been inscribed, even in part, on the basis of criterion viii, and a mere 14 have been inscribed solely on that basis (Calder and Badman, 2009). The Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Fig. 1), inscribed on the list of the world's heritage in 2008, is one of these 14 sites.
Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site