World heritage as authentic fake: Paradisic Reef and Wild Tasmania

A disconnect exists between the utopian visions driving UNESCO World Heritage listings and their formal assessments, revealing a tension between imagined 'hyperreal' landscapes and bureaucratic inventories. The study analyzed two Australian sites—the Great Barrier Reef and Tasmanian Wilderness—showing that while these landscapes are celebrated as authentic paradises, their official recognition reduces them to lists of species and values. This 'false consciousness' hinders conservation efforts by prioritizing manageable data over the unmanageable yet culturally significant utopias they represent. The research suggests adopting a broader cultural landscape framework could bridge this divide.

Pocock, C., Collett, D., & Knowles, J. (2022). World heritage as authentic fake: Paradisic Reef and Wild Tasmania. Landscape Research, 47(8), 1024–1038. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2022.2115990