World Heritage Listing
World Heritage sites are places of outstanding significance. As of July 2018, there were 1092 World Heritage sites listed by UNESCO World Heritage Centre. 209 of these sites are listed for their outstanding natural values.
In order for a property to be inscribed on the World Heritage list for outstanding natural values, it must fulfill one or more of the four natural criteria set out by UNESCO.
A property only needs to fulfill one of these criteria in order to meet the requirements. The Shark Bay area fulfills all FOUR of the natural criteria. Shark Bay was inscribed as a World Heritage area on 13th December 1991.
The four criteria were:
- Outstanding examples representing the major stage of Earth's evolutionary history - Stromatolites
- Outstanding examples representing significant ongoing geological process, biological evolution and man's interaction with his natural environment - Faure Sill
- Superlative natural phenomena, formation or features: for instance outstanding examples of the most important ecosystems, ares of exceptional natural beauty or exception combinations of natural and cultural elements - the indundated birridas and lagoons such as Big Lagoon and Little Lagoon.
- The most important and significant natural habitats where threatened species of animals or plants of outstanding universal value still survive - Shark Bay is home to 5 out of Australia's 26 endangered mammals
Our World Heritage Neighbourhood
The Gascoyne region is truly remarkable for having two World Heritage areas in close proximity: Shark Bay and the Ningaloo Coast. Both sites are renowned for their incredible natural environments, wildlife and wilderness tourism experiences.
For more information on the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area click here
You can learn more about the Shark Bay World Heritage Area on the UNESCO website. Here you can also view the complete list of all world heritage areas and places around the world.