The initiative of a submission for the inclusion of the Atri-Cerrano site on the UNESCO World Heritage List is one of most ambitious projects which can contribute to the idea of shared protection and promotion of the large hilly-coastal-marine territory between the Regional Reserve Badlands of Atri and the Tower of Cerrano Marine Protected Area.
The process began just less than three years ago. First of all, it saw the signature of an agreement among the involved institutions and associations (Regione Abruzzo, Soprintendenza Archeologica per l’Abruzzo, Università degli studi di Teramo, Provincia di Teramo, Comune di Atri, Comune di Pineto, Comune di Silvi, Co.Ges. AMP Torre del Cerrano, WWF Abruzzo, Legambiente Abruzzo, Italia Nostra Abruzzo, Gestore Riserva Calanchi di Atri e Soprintendenza Beni Culturali ed ambientali Abruzzo), and then it followed the constitution of a committee. This process led to the presentation in October 2012 of a proposal of inclusion in the Italian Tentative List, according to the operational guidelines for the Implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, through the required “Tentative List Submission Format”.
The Atri-Cerrano district, as described in the proposal, is identified on the following map:
Atri-Cerrano site map
Criteria which have been found and submitted in order to evaluate the outstanding value of the site are the following ones (taken from “Operational guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention”, § 77):
(iii) bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
(v) be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
(vii) contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
(x) contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of Outstanding Universal Value from the point of view of science or conservation.
Certainly this district has its point of force in the complexity of the involved cultural aspects: art, history, architecture, nature, landscape, environment. This area meets all requirements in order to be defined a “cultural landscape”, because of its complex interaction between natural and cultural features. For that reason it aims at being recognized in the world as the first Italian mixed site, just for the contemporary presence of values related to cultural and natural heritage.
The utility of the submission initiative, among other things, is to prepare the ground for editing a management plan for the Lands of Cerrano, which may systematize all environment resources. For example, one of the possible implications is the creation of a “Cerrano Card”, which may synthesize any possibility of fruition of material and immaterial heritage of so rich a district.
Bibliography:
- V. Manucci, Atri-Cerrano un sito per l’UNESCO – Esame delle potenzialità per la World Heritage List e per il programma Man nd the Biosphere, tesi master Ge.S.Lo.PAN., a.a. 2009/2010.
- Atti seminario e tavola rotonda “Atri-Cerrano, un comprensorio di potenziale interesse per l’UNESCO”, Pineto 26 Giugno 2010.