Bid for UK east coast wetlands to join iconic landmarks on Unesco World Heritage site list

An aerial image of Wallasea Island in Essex. Credit: RSPB.
Wallasea Island in Essex would form part of the East Coast wetlands World Heritage site. Credit: RSPB

The wetlands of the English east coast are bidding to be put on a par with some of the world's most iconic sites - including the Great Barrier Reef, Kilimanjaro National Park, and the Grand Canyon.

An application has been submitted that could make the important habitats a World Heritage site - joining an esteemed list that also includes Machu Picchu and the Pyramids of Giza.

The government is putting together a "tentative list" of sites that could be put forward for the prized status.

If the East Coast's bid to join that list was successful, it would then be submitted to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) as part of the UK's world heritage nominations.

More: The seven wonders of the east coast and why it deserves to be a Unesco World Heritage site

World Heritage sites are split into three categories and, at the moment, there are just two Natural World Heritage sites in Great Britain and Northern Ireland - the Jurassic Coast stretching from Dorset to East Devon, and the Causeway Coast including Giants Causeway.

But the team behind the east coast bid - led by the RSPB and supported by the National Trust, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the Crown Estate - believe its globally-important role in migratory bird populations make it a strong contender.

The East Coast wetlands support more than 155 different species of birds, including Brent geese. Credit: Phill GWILLIAM

Adam Rowlands, RSPB area manager for Suffolk, said: "A wide range of species use the east coast as an essential home and as refuge during huge migration journeys.

"Here in Suffolk the coastal estuaries will be welcoming large numbers of dark-bellied brent geese, avocet, black-tailed godwit and knot for the winter, while coastal marshes will ring to the whistling cries of wigeon, rubbing shoulders with beautiful pintail and white-fronted geese."

  • What would be included in the East Coast natural Unesco World Heritage site?

The site would include sites from the Humber Estuary on the Lincolnshire-Yorkshire border, all the way south to the Thames.

It would include sites such as The Wash, Wallasea Island in Essex, Holkham beach in Norfolk, and the Minsmere RSPB reserve.

  • Why should the East Coast wetlands be included?

The area supports more than 155 different bird species over a mixture of saltmarshes, mudflats and seagrasses covering 170,000 hectares. It is estimated that around one million birds are reliant on the East Coast each winter using the unique shores and inland marshes to shelter from the harsh conditions in Scandinavia, Canada, Greenland and Siberia. It is part of the East Atlantic Flyway, one of eight major routes in the world that are used by migrating birds, and is thought to be storing 12 million tonnes of carbon in just the top one metre of earth.

  • What are the other Unesco World Heritage sites?

The Unesco World Heritage site list covers more than 1,000 landmarks in 165 countries separated into three types.

Mixed - including Machu Picchu, Ibiza, Uluru

Natural - including Great Barrier, Central Amazon, Canadian Rocky Mountains, Galapagos Islands, Vatnajökull National Park in Iceland, Komodo National Park in Indonesia, Mount Etna, Kilimanjaro National Park, Serengeti National Park, Yosemite National Park, The Everglades, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Kathmandu.

Cultural - including the Pyramids of Giza, Bridgetown in Barbados, Historic Centre of Brugge, The Great Wall of China, Dubrovnik city in Croatia, Mont-Saint-Michel in France, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Acropolis in Athens, Taj Mahal, Timbuktu, Auschwitz Birkenau, the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow, Tower of London, the Lake District, Statue of Liberty.

Machu Picchu was added to the UNESCO World Heritage site list in 1983. Credit: Press Association

  • What does the status mean?

A World Heritage site is a cultural or natural landmark that has been recognised by Unesco and deemed worthy of preservation because of its "outstanding universal value" to humanity.

Each site is held in collective trust and officially belongs to the "peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located".

The status is legally protected by international treaty.

  • What protection does World Heritage status provide?

Governments across the world signed the World Heritage Convention in 1972 which began the list of heritage sites. As part of this international treaty, signatories to the convention committed to identifying, protect and conserving World Heritage sites for future generations.

It often means planning controls are in place in those areas and any changes must consider the site's natural and cultural significance.

But it does not guarantee protection. All six Unesco monuments in Syria - including the Great Mosque of Aleppo - have been destroyed during the civil war.

  • How are World Heritage sites selected?

The sites are selected by Unesco, which judges the sites according to the 1972 convention.

According to that document, each must possess "outstanding universal value" and meet at least one of 10 cultural and natural criteria.

These include diversity of human values, development of urban or settlement form, reference to history or living traditions, or superlative natural phenomena.

  • What happens next?

A decision on whether the East Coast wetlands' bid is to be included on the UK's tentative list of sites is expected by early 2023.

From that list, the government will then submit a number of sites for consideration by the Unesco committee, which meets once a year to consider new entries.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know