World Heritage Identification Number: 577
World Heritage since: 1997
Category: Natural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇦🇺 Australia
Continent: Oceania
UNESCO World Region: Asia and the Pacific
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Heard and McDonald Islands: A Volcanic Window into the Earth
The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI), located in the Southern Ocean, offers a unique perspective into the geological and ecological wonders of the world. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, these remote islands provide a valuable insight into ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located in the Southern Ocean, approximately 1,700 km from the Antarctic continent and 4,100 km south-west of Perth. As the only volcanically active subantarctic islands they ‘open a window into the earth’, thus providing the opportunity to observe ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics. The distinctive conservation value of Heard and McDonald – one of the world’s rare pristine island ecosystems – lies in the complete absence of alien plants and animals, as well as human impact.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
The Committee inscribed this property under criteria (viii) and (ix). It noted that this site is the only volcanically active sub-Antarctic island and illustrates ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics in the coastal and submarine environment and sub-Antarctic flora and fauna, with no record of alien species. The Committee repeated its request by the sixteenth session for further documentation on the marine resources of the site.
Encyclopedia Record: Heard Island and McDonald Islands
The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land area is 372 km2 (144 sq mi) and it has 101.9 km (63 mi) of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947.Additional Site Details
Area: 658,903 hectares
(ix) — Outstanding example representing ecological and biological processes
Coordinates: -53.1 , 73.5
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NASA, Public domain
