The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced Friday the inclusion of the Marquesas Islands, one of the five archipelagos of French Polynesia, in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The UNESCO, whose World Heritage Committee is currently holding a meeting in the Indian capital, New Delhi, explained in a statement that “Te Hinoa Enata – Marquesas Islands, a mixed sequential site in the South Pacific, is an exceptional witness to the settlement of human civilization in the lands of the Marquesas Bay after it reached them by sea around the year 1000 AD, noting that it began to flourish between the10th and 19th centuries on these isolated islands.
It highlighted that these islands also represent a habitat for biological diversity that includes indispensable marine and terrestrial ecosystems that have been exceptionally preserved.
It added that the archipelago is considered a major center of settlement and harbors rare and diverse plants, and embraces a variety of symbolic
marine species, in addition to being home to one of the most diverse groups of seabirds in the South Pacific.
The UNESCO said that the Marquesas waters are somewhat immune to human exploitation, which makes them one of the last marine wilderness areas in the world, noting that the site also contains archaeological sites such as huge stone structures and sculptures Rock and engravings.
Source: Qatar News Agency
