The World Heritage Site “Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe“ was inscribed into the World Heritage List in the summer of 2017. It was submitted as an extension to the already existing ‘Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany’, which now comprises 94 component parts across 18 countries. More information can be found here and here.
The extended property represents an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibits a wide spectrum of comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure and mixed stands of European beech across a variety of environmental conditions. Know more in this video of the Italian Minister of Culture.
A non-intervention management is essential for the conservation of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of this serial property across all its component parts. The majority of the 94 component parts are protected by law as strict forest reserves, wilderness areas, core areas of biosphere reserves or national parks, and Forest Management Plans.
To ensure this aspect, SETIN was responsible for the preparation of 10 Management Plans for the Italian sites of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe UNESCO Heritage Sites (including socio-economic aspects, tourism, and human activities), and for the elaboration of the Fundraising Strategy and Financial and Business Plans for the 10 UNESCO Sites and their buffer zones. This work was carried out between September 2021 and August 2022 for the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park.