MONTE SAN GIORGIO LISTED AS A NATURAL WORLD HERITAGE SITE High accolade for fossil trove
Bern, 02.07.2003 - Monte San Giorgio in Southern Ticino was today inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The decision of the World Heritage Committee was largely based on the outstanding palaeontological finds made in this area. Since the 19th century, thousands of skeletons of marine reptiles and fish have been discovered here, including a number of rare or even unique species. Following the listing of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region, Monte San Giorgio is now Switzerland’s second natural World Heritage site.
The pyramid-shaped Monte San Giorgio (1096 metres in height) stands on the Southern shore of Lake Lugano. The new World Heritage property – covering an area of 849 hectares – extends across the communes of Meride, Riva San Vitale and Brusino Arsizio. The site is surrounded by a buffer zone, covering another 1400 hectares from six communes. Since 1977, the entire region has been listed in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and Natural Monuments of National Importance (BLN); it is also a protected landscape area under cantonal law.
The unique value of Monte San Giorgio lies in the fossil-bearing strata from the geological era known as the Middle Triassic (245–230 million years ago). As a result of slow sedimentation rates and oxygen-poor conditions in this locality, extremely well preserved fossils have survived in five successive strata, making it possible to study the evolution of various groups of marine creatures. To date, more than 10,000 specimens have been found, including 30 reptile species, 80 fish species, about 100 species of invertebrates and numerous microfossils.
For over 150 years, research at Monte San Giorgio has been carried out primarily by the Palaeontology Institutes of the Universities of Zurich and Milan. Excavations are only authorized by the Canton of Ticino for scientific purposes. Although the fossil wealth of Monte San Giorgio has long been world-renowned, specimens are mainly housed in the museums of palaeontology in Zurich, Lugano and Milan. A number of items are also exhibited at the “Museo dei Fossili” in Meride.
Monte San Giorgio offers other natural values in addition to the abundant and well-preserved fossil finds. For example, more than 550 species of fungi have been recorded here, and three species of spiders were discovered and first scientifically described at this site; there is also a richly varied insubrian flora (e.g. low-nutrient meadows).
As the fossiliferous strata of Monte San Giorgio extend into Italian territory, initial steps have already been taken to integrate this site into an international World Heritage property.
UNESCO World Heritage – «Nobel prize» for cultural and natural properties
The World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is an instrument established under the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention). The properties inscribed on the List are deemed by the World Heritage Committee to be of outstanding universal value.
Listed sites are recognized as part of the heritage of mankind as a whole and are to be preserved through collective international efforts. Properties are included on the World Heritage List at the request of the state on whose territory they are situated, following a rigorous evaluation procedure.
The UNESCO World Heritage List currently comprises about 730 cultural and natural properties. Four of the cultural properties are located in Switzerland: the Convent of St. Gall, the Benedictine Convent of St. John at Müstair (Grisons), the Old City of Berne, and the Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-town of Bellinzone. Following the listing of the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn region in 2001, Monte San Giorgio is now Switzerland’s second natural World Heritage site.
Publisher
Federal Office for the Environment FOEN
https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en
