Jurre:
The Italian candidate for 2023 might be "Evaporite karst and caves of Emilia Romagna Region"
Gessi triassici, sfida aperta per diventare patrimonio Unesco
The path to candidacy is still long, uncertain and difficult. There are deadlines: after the pre-evaluation in September 2021, the hypothetical official UNESCO evaluation will follow, perhaps in February 2022 or more likely in February 2023.
About this, I received a newsletter with a link to
this announcement (which I think is a better source than Rimini Today's article, derived from it). Talk is definitely going on and there's some excitement in the area.
But the most interesting thing is that now
seven sites are mentioned: along the four we already have on the map, there are:
*
Lower hills of Reggio Emilia (
bassa collina reggiana), specifically (I think) the
Borzano gypsums in
this SIC (=
sito di interesse comunitario = site of public interest, not quite a regional/national park yet). Totally unknown to me even if in "my area", the place of particular interest for the nomination seems to lie around the small castle on gypsum outcroppings, but might not be limited to that. The area is part of a more extensive zone of
paesaggio protetto (= landscape under protection).
*
Evaporite karst of San Leo (take a look
here).
San Leo has a picturesque stronghold perched on a rocky formation, near San Marino (I could actually say that San Marino is near San Leo, hmmm); it was the prison and death place of count Cagliostro. Actually I have some problems in identifying their exact location, as I also find somehow associated to them (and more documented)...
*... the natural reserve of the
caves of Onferno (
here and
here), but it's more on the east, so it is (the main?) part of the mentioned
Gypsums of Eastern Romagna. Even the official website of the Emilia-Romagna region says that the karst in this area is not so well known! But here something could be speleologically visitable. Take a look
here for technical information and pictures.
The description on the UNESCO website has not yet changed to reflect these possible additions. However, from this official article the candidature for 2023 looks almost certain. :-O I mean, I cannot really believe it!
(PS: Maybe I have to move this discussion to the T-list thread?)