UNESCO's World Heritage List Adds Sites in Southern France

  • July 25, 2011
UNESCO's World Heritage List Adds Sites in Southern France
Spanning over 300,000 hectares, these areas consist of an exceptional natural setting containing a variety of landscapes ranging from mountains to deep valleys. The Causses contains limestone plateaus separated by gorges and valleys, while the Cévennes boasts schist metamorphic rocks and the granite summits of Mont Lozère and Mont Aigoual. Made up of two parks, the National Park of the Cévennes and the regional Natural Reserve of Large Causses, the territory demonstrates a great respect for the environment while demonstrating an important history of sustainable tourism.

This landscape spans through two regions of France: Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrenees within the Mediterranean backcountry. The sites owe their unity to the Mediterranean agro-pastoral culture, a shared culture developed over many thousands of years. This culture, which demonstrates a unique history of agrarianism, is today embodied in the landscapes of the Causses and the Cévennes. The first signs of the region being inhabited can be traced back to prehistoric times.

Thanks to work from a wide variety of organizations and individuals in the region, the territory has been preserved and is now a fruitful and vibrant destination. The grasslands are conserved by pastoralism; terraces, once abandoned, have been replanted; buildings have been restored and are now occupied by residents. In addition to agriculture and other rural activities, tourism, and particularly eco-tourism, has developed in this area of exceptional heritage.

For more information on the site, visit www.causses-et-cevennes.com.