Heard and McDonald Islands

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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.

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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

Criterion (viii): The islands contain outstanding examples of significant on-going geological processes occurring in an essentially undisturbed environment, particularly physical processes which provide an understanding of the role of crustal plates in the formation of ocean basins and continents, and of atmospheric and oceanic warming. The islands are distinctive among oceanic islands in being founded upon a major submarine plateau which in this case deflects Antarctic circumpolar waters northwards, with striking consequences for geomorphological processes. They also offer an active example of plume volcanism, providing direct geological evidence of the action of the longest operational plume system known in the world. This includes information about plume interaction with overlying crustal plates, as well as insights into mantle plume composition due to the widest range of isotopic compositions of strontium, neodymium, lead and helium known from any oceanic island volcano system. Big Ben on Heard Island is the only known continuously active volcano on a sub-Antarctic island, whereas the volcano on MacDonald Island recently became active again after a 75,000 year period of dormancy, increasing significantly in size since inscription. Heard Island’s relatively shallow and fast-flowing glaciers respond quickly to climate change, faster than any glaciers elsewhere, making them particularly important in monitoring climate change. They have fluctuated dramatically in recent decades and have retreated significantly.

Criterion (ix): Heard Island and McDonald Islands are outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological, biological, and evolutionary processes. As the only sub-Antarctic islands virtually free of introduced species and with negligible modification by humans, they are a classic example of a sub-Antarctic island group with large populations of marine birds and mammals numbering in the millions, but low species diversity. These intact ecosystems provide opportunities for ecological research investigating population dynamics and interactions of plant and animal species, as well as monitoring the health and stability of the larger southern oceans ecosystem. Areas of newly deglaciated land as well as areas isolated from each other by glaciers provide unparalleled opportunities for the study of the dispersal and establishment of plants and animals. The islands also furnish crucial, alien-free habitat for large populations of marine birds and mammals, including major breeding populations of seals, petrels, albatrosses and penguins. Endemic species demonstrating ongoing evolutionary processes include the Heard Island cormorant, the endemic subspecies of the Heard Island sheathbill, and a number of endemic invertebrates (some endemic to Heard and McDonald Islands, and some endemic to the Heard and McDonald Islands-Kerguelen region).

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.

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IUCN World Heritage Outlook

The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Heard and McDonald Islands reports the following assessment:

Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment