The Landmark Practice Blog

The Landmark Practice has been appointed to assist in the nomination of Wudalianchi National Park in northern China as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wudalianchi National Park, in the north (eastern) province of Heilongjiang, is acclaimed both nationally and internationally, being designated as a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), as a Global Geopark and as an Important Bird Area (IBA). As a result of repeated monogenetic volcanic activity over a period of more than a million years, Wudalianchi supports a diverse range of vegetation types that demonstrate repeated colonisation and succession on newly formed volcanic terrain.

Lyndon Roberts (Landmark Senior Ecologist) accompanied Dr. Chris Wood, science advisor to the IUCN and Senior Lecturer in Heritage Conservation at Bournemouth University, on a visit to the candidate site in October, 2009.

Expert botanists and ecologists from China were invited to attend a 5-day Workshop, led by Chris and Lyndon, to review the scientific evidence and arguments in support of the Outstanding Universal Value of the nominated site. Following this visit to China, The Landmark Practice will be further involved in the final drafting of the formal nomination document.

Wudalianchi was added to the Tentative List (of World Heritage Sites) in 2001. Following its formal nomination in January 2010, an independent assessment will be carried out by advisory bodies, including IUCN.