Nomination process
On September 19, 2023, in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed "Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines" (EKCNA) on the World Heritage List as a natural site (the 59th Italian site to be inscribed).
The nomination was submitted to the UNESCO Commission at the end of January 2022 by the Italian Diplomatic Representation to UNESCO in Paris, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as established by the procedure.
In early March 2022, the World Heritage Centre provided an initial response confirming the positive outcome of the preliminary completeness check of the nomination dossier.
With this communication, the international evaluation process officially began. The nomination was subjected to the technical review of the advisory bodies of the World Heritage Committee, and in particular, to the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
The key stages of the process, which concluded in 2023 at the 46th session of the Committee, were as follows:
Evaluation Panel: Based on the key themes of the nomination and the proposed inscription criteria, the IUCN established a panel of international experts tasked with verifying the scientific and technical content of the dossier.
On-site Evaluation Mission: Between November 21 and 28, 2022, an on-site inspection was conducted by an independent IUCN expert not involved in the evaluation panel. The mission included field visits and meetings with scientific experts, management bodies, and both institutional and local stakeholders.
Review Sessions and Additional Information: On January 26, 2023, an interim report (PDF – 476.7 KB) was submitted, along with requests for technical and documentary integration. These requests were handled by the Region, which subsequently prepared supplementary documents (PDF – 22.0 MB). These were transmitted by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, via a note dated February 27, 2023, to the Permanent UNESCO Representative for submission to the IUCN.
Technical Evaluation Outcome: On July 7, 2023, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security announced that the IUCN had completed its technical evaluation and drafted the Technical Evaluation report (PDF – 22.7 MB, pp. 203–212). The report included a draft decision regarding the outcome of the nomination, accompanied by conditions and recommendations, which was submitted to the 21 members of the World Heritage Committee (including Italy) responsible for confirming or amending the IUCN's proposal.
Final Decision: On September 19, 2023, in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially inscribed the Evaporitic Karst and Caves of Northern Apennines on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a natural site.