COUNCIL OF EUROPE No. 9 1 / 199 9 ENGLISH • Ii/ •Il A "•} \ Wtr" » j .It V.'^fti Nature: the common heritage of humankind «S» • * M* * • CE NTRE NAT UROPA Editorial Chief editor /I living heritage for Europeans H. Asgrimsson 3 Eladio Fernândez-Galiano Conception and editing Marie-Françoise Glatz E-mail: [email protected] This issue's special adviser The values of natural heritage Alexandre Kiss Scientific and ecological values: the plant kingdom J.-M. Pelt 4 Layout Economic, recreational and cultural values D. Fadden 5 Emmanuel Georges Nature's intrinsic and ethical value J.-P. Ribaut 7 BietiotPrinte -r Gilly (Belgium) Aesthetic value: interview with F. Back 8 Articles may be freely reprinted provided that reference is made to the source and a copy sent to the Centre Naturopa. The copyright of all illustrations is reserved. A common heritage - why? The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors Nature, the common heritage of humankind A. Kiss 10 and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council of Europe. The sea S. Mahmoudi /2 Since 1993 Naturopa has been printed The protection of the marine heritage outside the jurisdiction of States on chlorine-free paper. P. Van Klaveren / 5 A selective bibliography on the natural heritage is available, free of charge, Forests B. Manser 14 upon request to the Centre Naturopa. Landscape: natural and cultural heritage M. R. Guido 15 © Cover, background: T. Stoeckel/NEL/Bios Vignette 1: 5. Cordier/Pluriel Vignette 2: Atlantide/Bruce Coleman Ltd Vignette 3: P. Folliet/Vanoise National Park To know, appreciate and protect our heritage Poem page 7: H. Reinhard/ Bruce Coleman Ltd Interpretation: a discipline for heritage J. Morales Miranda 18 Earth page 10: P.P.L./Sipa Image Role of botanic gardens L.Sutherland 20 This issue has been published with the financial support of Role and challenges of natural history museums M. Katsakiori 21 the Swiss Government. Slovak caves: hidden but magnificent elements P. Bella and J. Zacharova 22 Caring for the natural heritage in Wallonia, Belgium J. Stein 23 Unesco World Heritage List: inscription of Lake Baikal A. Pedersen and M. Rossler 25 Natural heritage: endangered masterpiece? Interrelation between nature and civilisation: the case of the Lapps M.-F. Glatz and A. Menthon 26 The environment at the Council of Europe 28 National Agencies of the Centre Naturopa 30 editorial A living heritage for Europeans At its last summit of Heads of and Governments - But, our natural heritage is the whole in October 1997 - the Council of Europe decided of the living environment of people, the to organise an awareness campaign on the cultural quiet and deep forest as well as the fields and natural heritage of Europe. we cultivate. It encompasses the mountains and countryside that collect and filter the water we drink, This Campaign, entitled "Europe, a common heritage", that purify the air we breathe. It is the oceans and seas was launched in Bucharest and Sibiu (Romania) last which connect people and provide us with fish, the land September and will last for a whole year. which feeds us. the physical space which humans share with many other living creatures. It is our common It is not by chance that the Committee of Ministers house. of the Council of Europe has decided to start the new century paying particular attention to the heritage The reader will be able to know more about natural we Europeans share. Heritage contributes to our heritage, to learn that the variety of biological forms common identity, to our sense of being part of the same and landscapes surrounding us have great scientific history, of the same land. Europeans need to face and cultural interest not devoid of economic utility, the challenges of the coming century knowing where of aesthetic and recreational value. they come from, what they have achieved, and what is their heritage. A harmonious living environment is equally important for the body as it is for the mind. One article will The Campaign will make Europeans aware that their discuss the concept of the common heritage of natural and cultural heritage is a vital resource for humankind, a term that was coined in the 1960s, their lives, for their intellectual and moral development at the same time some people started to worry about as well as for their wellbeing. Heritage is a shared asset the health of our planet. that conveys both a sense of belonging to a place and to a nation and the recognition of how much Other articles will invite the reader to discover we owe to other communities. It is also a vehicle and enjoy this rich heritage by means of interpretation for tolerance, for mutual understanding and for techniques, to learn of the important role that botanical admiration of the works of others. gardens and museums of natural history play in conserving our heritage. We are also convinced that, through the Campaign. Europeans will become much more aware of the great Examples of the management and protection of natural value of the natural and cultural heritage we share heritage in Belgium and the Slovak Republic will and of the role that heritage can have in the be presented, as well as the case of Lake Baikal, construction of democratic security and peace. the greatest mass of freshwater on our planet, now protected through inscription in Unesco's World This issue of Naturopa will contribute to the Campaign Heritage List. by dealing with the different aspects of natural heritage and by presenting nature as a common heritage All these articles, although on different levels, carry one of humankind. Promotion of information, public main message: our heritage is worth our attention awareness and a positive perception of nature and respect. conservation have been one of the Council Halldór Ásgrímsson Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of Europe's fields of of the Council of Europe action for many years, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland and Naturopa its mouthpiece. Too often the natural heritage is narrowly understood as a few, rare spaces of great biological value away from the cities where most Europeans live. The values of natural The scientific and environmental values of nature The plant kingdom The status of the Earth's flora is converted botanical gardens and con- upon row of roses and tulips, etc. No assessed world-wide on a continuous servatories. This is what happened more wild grasses, or wild plants. No basis in the name of biodiversity. Once with Duprez's cypress. Cry's violet, more swamps, because we get sucked they have been carefully identified, on the other hand, was not so lucky. down in them, no more mangroves, species are listed according to the because we get lost in them, and no threats they face and divided into five The extent to which the general pub- more violets, cornflowers, poppies or categories: extinct, endangered, vul- lic remains unaware of these phe- chestnut trees, because they are of lit- nerable, rare, or not endangered. For, nomena is surprising, especially given tle use. like the animal kingdom, the plant the reaction triggered by pollution or kingdom is an essential part of our quality of life issues. An extinct species Why bother? natural heritage. produces no emotion and no infor- Why should we defend endangered mation, for the simple reason that no species? Why go to such lengths to Endangered species one is even aware of it. That a plant protect species chat are of no use, or, The difference between species that species can be threatened with extinc- to be more precise, of no use to us? are extinct and those threatened with tion may even seem incongruous. Yet, The answer is, purely and simply, extinction may be imperceptible. It is each time a species becomes extinct, because we are all part of, and one estimated that several hundred of the there is a part of Life that disappears, with, this living world in which we are world's species are currently reduced and for ever. An extinct species is irre- rooted by our very bodies and by emo- to a single specimen or no more than trievable. Each time a species disap- tions such as those that bind us so a few specimens, often scattered over pears, a part of our world heritage dies tightly not only to our kinsfolk but also a single site. The last remaining spec- with it. to our dog, our garden and our house- imen has only to be destroyed as a plants, etc. A living world built every- result of inadequate protection mea- The right to be different where of the same molecular bricks 1 sures for example" , and the whole Biodiversity conjures up one of the (DNA, proteins, sugars), subject every- species disappears for ever, unless in few new values to have developed dur- where to the same needs (the need to the meantime its seeds have been ing the 20th century, namely the right grow, breathe, feed and reproduce), planted and cultivated in specially- to be different. What goes for humans and competing and co-operating also goes for plants. Just as the human everywhere with other living organ- race displays a multiplicity of cultures, isms. For Life is One in the rich diver- ethnic groups, and languages, so too sity of its progeny. It is as if each time the plant kingdom offers itself up in the we cause a part of Life to be lost, we great diversity of its species. suffer the same loss ourselves. Large- scale awareness of environmental Put in extreme terms, it is possi- issues is awakening us to this world ble to imagine a world where the only which, much more than simply our species left would be the Fifty or "environment", is the vital mainstay so which, by themselves, account of our emotions.