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Fossil cliffs in Joggins, N.S., selected as a UNESCO world heritage site |
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Written by THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Monday, 07 July 2008 |
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HALIFAX - The Joggins fossil cliffs in Nova Scotia have been named by UNESCO to its select list of world heritage sites.
Members of a committee voted unanimously in favour of the designation at a meeting in Quebec City on Monday evening. The fossil cliffs are regarded as the best record of life in the Coal Age - 300 million years ago - and are home to enormous fossilized trees and what's believed to be the remains of the world's oldest reptile.
"There really isn't anywhere in the world that's as good as Joggins as far as we know," said Martin Gibling, a professor of earth sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax.
"It's truly a marvellous place - you can see the entire ancient landscapes of the Earth laid out before you, so to speak."
Nova Scotia's premier heralded UNESCO's designation of the site.
"The Joggins fossil cliffs are one of Nova Scotia's, and the world's, great natural treasures," Rodney MacDonald said in a news release.
The province is hoping Joggins' addition to the heritage list will attract more visitors to the site, where a new $9-million interpretive centre opened in April.
The Joggins cliffs were submitted last February for consideration by the world heritage committee.
Experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature visited the site for six days last fall to judge the worthiness of the cliffs.
The decision to name the cliffs a heritage site was partly based on the contribution the cliffs have made to significant scientific concepts.
The cliffs are now in exclusive company - there are only 14 other world heritage sites in Canada and 855 sites worldwide.
It's also the second heritage site in the province - the old town of Lunenburg, N.S., was named to the list in 1995.
Several other historic sites were also named to the world heritage list on Monday.
A series of wooden churches in Slovakia dating back to the 16th century was selected, along with two 500-year-old cities on the Straits of Malacca in Malaysia.
Founded in 1972, UNESCO is an educational, scientific and cultural arm of the United Nations charged with protecting cultural and natural heritage worldwide.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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