World Heritage List | Australia

Heard and McDonald Islands

Date of Inscription: 1997

Criteria: N (i) (ii)

Brief Description

Heard Island and McDonald Islands are located in the Southern Ocean, approximately 1,700 km from the Antarctic continent and 4,100 km south-west of Perth. As the only volcanically active subantarctic islands they 'open a window into the earth', thus providing the opportunity to observe ongoing geomorphic processes and glacial dynamics. The distinctive conservation value of Heard and McDonald – one of the world's rare pristine island ecosystems – lies in the complete absence of alien plants and animals, as well as human impact.

This object on the website of the World Heritage Centre whc.unesco.org/en/list/577