8 Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat of Mesoamerica semi-arid regioninNorthAmerica. acán-Cuicatlán Valley, which is situated in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán floristic province, the southernmost arid and the propertyencompassesmostrepresentativeand best-preservedcharacteristicsandattributesoftheTehu- Situated wheretheNeotropicandNearcticrealmsintersect, inthemiddleofMesoamericanculturalregion, Biosphere Reserve. these sharethesamebufferzoneof344,931.68ha.TheentirepropertyislocatedwithinTehuacán-Cuicatlán ha composedofthreezones:theZapotitlán-Cuicatlánzone,SanJuanRayazoneandPurrónzone. All east oftheStatePueblaandnorthOaxaca.Thenominatedpropertyhasasurface145,255.20 The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán:originaryhabitatofMesoamericaislocatedincentral-southernMexico,atthesouth - Textual descriptionsoftheboundariesnominatedproperty Raya andPurrón. natural heritagenomination.Thepropertyconsistsofthreecomponentsorzones:Zapotitlán–Cuicatlán,SanJuan The Tehuacán–CuicatlánValley:originaryhabitatofMesoamericaisanationalserialandmixedcultural Geographical coordinatestothenearestsecond Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley:originaryhabitatofMesoamerica Name ofproperty State ofPueblaandOaxaca State, provinceorregion State Party Executive Summary Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat of Mesoamerica

98°30'W 98°15'W 98°0'W 97°45'W 97°30'W 97°15'W 97°0'W 96°45'W 96°30'W 96°15'W 96°0'W

Atlixco Palmarito Fortín de las Flores Tecamachalco Córdoba General Tochapan Palmira Ciudad Ixtaczoquitlán Miguel Alemán Orizaba Mendoza Río Nogales Cuitláhuac Blanco 18°45'N 18°45'N

Izúcar de Matamoros Santiago Miahuatlán VERACRUZ

Tierra Tehuacán 18°30'N Blanca 18°30'N Ajalpan San Juan Zapotitlán Raya Zinacatepec Tres Acatlán Miguel Alemán Valles Purrón Dam 18°15'N 18°15'N de Osorio San Juan Bautista Zapotitlán - Tuxtepec Cuicatlán 18°0'N 18°0'N

Huajuapan de León Cuicatlán 17°45'N 17°45'N

OAXACA 17°30'N 17°30'N

98°30'W 98°15'W 98°0'W 97°45'W 97°30'W 97°15'W 97°0'W 96°45'W 96°30'W 96°15'W 96°0'W MAP LEGEND LOCATION MAPS PROJECTION Nominated property, Boundary Datum: Mexico ITRF92 Buffer zone, Boundary Spheroid: GRS 1980 Administrative division

Kilometres Produced by 05 10 20 30 40 50 Conservación Humana, A.C. Mexico, January, 2016 Scale 1:1 100 000 ° 10 Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat of Mesoamerica humanity andofalllivingthings. The Tehuacán-CuicatlánValley:originaryhabitatofMesoamerica isaninvaluableandirreplaceableheritageof as manymanuscriptsofthissort. highest historical,iconographicandaestheticvalue.There isnootherregioninthecontinentthathasproduced with cultural legacy was manifested years afterwards through the development of a pictographic writing of the this familyarestillspokenintheregiondenoting culturalcontinuityformillennia.Thatalong languages, the oldest and most diversified linguistic family in the Americas. The linguistic groups emerging from The isation andcomplexityofthefirstcivilisations. and fosteredthediscoveryofotherinnovationslikesaltindustrypottery,whichwereessentialtoorgan - the Valleythroughoutthousandsofyears.Furthermore,thesetechnologicaladvanceshadamultiplyingeffect sequently watertechnologicalsystemsweretherulingguideforcivilisationalprocessthatwasdeveloped in Con- continent. the of system irrigation ancient diversified most the it make which dams and aqueducts wells, resulting inamajorirrigationsystemcomposedofwidearraywatermanagementelements,suchascanals, ancient worldwide,datingbackto95007000B.C.Bythenwatermanagementtechnologiesbegandevelop advances The aridconditionsoftheValleytriggeredinnovationandcreativity,originatingtwomajortechnological cultural regionknowntodayasMesoamerica. the defined that evolution technological ancient and adaptations of process long a of example exceptional an is sequence ofhumanadaptationsthattookplaceintheareaforover14,000years.TheTehuacán-CuicatlánValley largest andbestdocumentedculturalsequencesintheAmericas.Thearchaeologicalevidencereveal long The vastbiodiversityoftheValley,combinedwithadverseconditionsadesert,gaverisetoone the in theworld. are endemic.Large“cacti-forests”shapesomelandscapesoftheValleymakingitonemostuniqueareas sification for numerous groups of plants, in which the cacti stand out, with 28 genera and 86 species of which 21 3,000 speciesofvascularplantswhichtenpercentareendemictotheValley.Itisalsoaworldcentrediver - life and 70 percent of the flora families worldwide Of the36plantcommunities,15differentxericshrublandsareexclusivetoValley.Allpossibleformsof the planetand,moreover,itisanoutstandingagrobiodiversitycentre. of dry-lands other any of that surpasses diversity faunistic Its communities. plant and flora rare species, gered Valley isaworldbiodiversityhotspot.Itcontainsbiomescharacterizedbyhighlevelsofendemicandendan Located incentral-southernMexico,wheretheNeotropicandNearcticrealmsintersect,Tehuacán-Cuicatlán ca, oneofthecradlescivilisationinworld. biological diversityinNorthAmerica,givingrisetohumanadaptationscrucialtheemergenceofMesoameri- The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originaryhabitatofMesoamericaisthearidorsemiaridzonewithgreatest Draft StatementofOutstandingUniversalValue List asanationalserial,mixedculturalandnaturalheritagesiteundercriteriaiii,iv,vix. The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat ofMesoamerica is nominated to theUNESCO World Heritage Criteria onwhichthepropertyisnominated

long interaction between humans and environment was also reflected in the rise of the proto-Otomanguean of human history. human of

The first advance was plant domestication, which in the Valley is one of the most the of one is Valley the in which domestication, plant was advance first

are represented.Theextraordinarybiodiversityincludesover - to addressthisthreatsincludingadverseeffectsofdevelopment. objectives, strategies and specific actions in coordination with key local, national and international stakeholders effective legalprotection.Themanagementmechanisms considerthevariousthreatstoareaandestablish tional management, that the size and boundaries of the property were set. The property and its buffer zone have is precisely for this representativeness and its integrity, connectivity as well as for its legal protection and func- ince Tehuacán-CuicatlánandalltherelevantculturalelementsthatconveyitsOutstanding UniversalValue.It prov- floristic the of communities plant and habitats representative most the contains property nominated The Declaration ofIntegrity a worldcentreofdiversificationfornumerousgroupsplants es thatofanyotherdry-landstheplanetand,moreover,itisanoutstandingagrobiodiversitycentre.Italso high levels of endemic and endangered species, rare flora and plant communities. Its faunistic diversity surpass- biological diversity in North America. It is a world biodiversity hotspot that contains biomes characterized by The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originaryhabitatofMesoamericaisthearid orsemiaridzonewiththegreatest Criterion (x): peoples fromtheirorigins,foundationanddailylifeinMesoamerica. manuscripts ofthissort.Thesedocumentsstrengthenourunderstandingthehistoricaldevelopment the even aftertheConquestofNewWorld.Thereisnootherregionincontinentthathasproducedasmany aspects were depicted in codices, paintings and manuscriptsthat were passed on as a communication tradition graphic andaestheticuniversalvaluethatrepresenttheritualpoliticallifeofpre-Hispanicworld.These The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley is directly associated with aseries of pictorial documents of great historic, icono- Criterion (vi): the Valley. organisation oftheareasincepre-Hispanictimes,aswellmodernizationandcommercialdevelopment ronmental conditionsinthearea.Alsovastproductionofsaltandpotteryallowustounderstandsocial constant adaptation of humans to the environment and reflect their innovative capacity to face the adverse envi- oldest civilisationsintheworld.LocatedthroughoutValley,thesetechnologiesbearuniqueevidenceof a stageoftheutmostimportanceforMesoamericanregion:appearanceanddevelopmentone ological evidencessuchastheremainsfoundincaves,plantdomesticationsites,saltpondsandpottery,mark The technologicalensembleofwatermanagementtheTehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, alongwithotherarchae- Criterion (iv): evolution andadaptationsofindigenoussocietiesthearchaeologicalsitesfoundinregion. ancient tradition in an ever-changing environment. These languages also establish a strong bond between the majority ofthelivinglanguagesspokeninValleyareexceptionaltestimoniesculturalcontinuitythis the ancientOtomangueanTraditionthatplayedakeyroleinfoundationofMesoamericancivilisations.The The linguisticdiversitythatexistsnowadaysintheTehuacán-CuicatlánValleygivesanexceptionalevidenceof Criterion (iii): Justification forcriteria

11 1. Identification of the property 12 Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley: originary habitat of Mesoamerica E-mail: Tel. +52(55)54497000 go, C.P.11320,MéxicoD.F., México Address: AvenidaEjércitoNacional No.223,Piso12,ColoniaAnahuac1eraSección, DelegaciónMiguelHidal- Name: ComisiónNacionaldeÁreasNaturalesProtegidas (CONANP) / E-mail: Tel. +52(55)40404300ext:415591 D.F., Address: Insurgentes Sur No. 421, Piso 11, Colonia Hipódromo, Delegación Cuauthémoc, C.P. 06100, México Name: InstitutoNacionaldeAntropologíaeHistoria(INAH) /NationalInstituteofAnthropologyandHistory Name andcontactinformationofofficiallocal institutions the area.Theseinstitutionscountwithactiveparticipationoflocalcommunities. together with the Administration Office of the TCBR, in charge of executing the majority of fieldwork throughout Use ofBiodiversityandtheNationalForestryCommissioncoordinatewithCONANP.Alltheseinstitutionswork tute forAnthropologyandHistory.FormonitoringofbiodiversitytheNationalCommissionKnowledge and Commission forProtectedAreas,FederalAttorneyGeneralEnvironmentalProtectionandtheNationalInsti - The institutionsinchargeofimplementingprotectivemeasuresaretheMinistryEnvironment,National and Archaeological,ArtisticHistoricalSites. heritage. ThearchaeologicalsitesalsoreceiveeffectivelegalprotectionundertheFederalLawonMonuments signed with the aim of maintaining the biodiversity and ecological processes as well as the cultural and historical the categoryofbiospherereservesince1998.In2013TCBRconsolidatedmanagementplanthatwasde - Reserve (TCBR),whichwasdesignatedbytheMexicanfederalgovernmentasanaturalprotectedareaunder The nominated property is completely included within the boundaries of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere conditions ofauthenticity. sure itsOutstandingUniversalValueincludingthenaturalandculturalconditionsofintegrity The propertyTehuacán-CuicatlánValley:originaryhabitatofMesoamericahaseffectivelegalprotectiontoen- Protection andManagementRequirements transmitted throughmilleniasurvivesandwarrantstherecognitionofsites’authenticity. of themandtothesystemsitesasawholehasbeenpreserved.ThegeniuslociancientOtomangueans the investigationmethodsused,sitesarestillunalteredandsospiritualcharacterinherenttoeachone as thestudyanddatingofclayremainsconsideredrelevanttodeterminetimelimitssites.Thanks renowned nationalandinternationalacademicshavebeenbasedmainlyincarbonsedimentdating,aswell ing effectsoftimeovermillennia,butwithoutanymajordisturbanceintheirmainattributes.Investigationsby The proposedsitesforthepresentnominationstillmaintaintheiroriginalcondition,withobvious weather- Declaration ofAuthenticity

México [email protected] [email protected]

National CommissionofNaturalProtectedAreas