I let this one slip by, but it needs to be included, so I will second it now.

One of very few ancient cities located between the Inca an Maya worlds, and distinct from both of those in its construction.

Full Name of Site: Amboró and Carrasco National Parks
Country: Bolivia
TWHS? No
Short description of site: Amboró (ANP) and Carrasco (CNP) National Parks are adjacent to one another and together the two form a larger conservation unit. They both covers several ecoregions, one of which are the Bolivian Yungas, an ecoregion not yet represented on the WHL with distinct ecological differences from the Peruvian yungas. The Yungas forests are extremely diverse, ranging from moist lowland forest to evergreen montane forest and cloud forests. There are high levels of biodiversity and species endemism throughout the Yungas regions. (1) ANP is one of the most botanically rich national parks in the world. The current number of documented plant species totals around 3,000, though this is almost certainly an underestimate. By comparison, the much more thoroughly documented and very biologically rich Hawaiian Island archipelago, which covers about six times the total area of ANP, has only about 2,800 native plant species, while the British Isles (covering about 65 times the area of Amboró) have only around 2,000. Much of the biodiversity of Amboró is partitioned according to the park's highly dissected topography and the widely varying climatic regimes that accompany the sharp transitions in elevation. Vegetational diversity is equally exceptional within the park. Another factor contributing to the park's high plant species richness is its location at the confluence of several diverse and unique floristic regions. (2) CNP has more than 5,000 plant species, placing the park among Bolivia's most biologically diverse. The park is a mountainous landscape of rivers, waterfalls, gentle valleys and deep canyons. There is exuberant vegetation that protects and harbors several animals, plants and trees that are in danger of extinction.
Criteria: Natural

Resources: Yungas, Bolivian Yungas, Amboró National Park, Carrasco National Park

I will second this proposal for the flora biodiversity.

Name: Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave
Country: Belize
TWHS: No
Description: Actun Tunichil Muknal is a cave in Belize, an archaeological site notable as a sacrificial Mayan site that includes skeletons, ceramics, and stoneware. There are several areas with skeletal remains in the main chamber. The best known is "The Crystal Maiden", the skeleton of an adolescent whose bones have been calcified to a sparkling, crystallized appearance. The cave also has ceramics and remains completely calcified to the cave floor. The Maya also modified cave formations here, in some instances to create altars for the offerings, in others to create silhouettes of faces and animals or to project a shadow image into the cave. The cave is extensively decorated with cave formations in the upper passages. Animal life in the cave includes a large population of bats, large freshwater crabs, crayfish, catfish and other tropical fish. Large invertebrates like Amblypygi and various predatory spiders also inhabit the cave.
Criteria: Mixed
Links/Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actun_Tunichil_Muknal

I second this because of its high diversity of fauna and flora, and because of its numerous endemic species.

Full Name of Site: Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve
Country: Chile
TWHS? No
Short description of site: Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve is a nature reserve consisting of three islands: Chañaral, Damas and Choros. The reserve is an important breeding site for the Humboldt penguin, for which it is named, and is a habitat for sea lions and bottlenose dolphins, chungungos (marine otters), sea turtle, whale, albatross and cormorant. Aside from dolphins, local cetacean diversity includes migratory rorquals such as blue, fin, and humpback whales, and sperm whales. It is an example of the marine life in the Humboldt Current, the cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America. The Humboldt Current is a highly productive ecosystem. Due to the upwelling zones within the Humboldt current, biological diversity is extremely high.
Criteria: Natural

Resources: Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve, Humboldt Current

Full Name of Site: Cozumel
Country: Mexico
TWHS? No
Short description of site: Cozumel is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Large parts of the island are covered with mangrove forest which has many endemic animal species. Endemic species and subspecies of bird include the Cozumel emerald, the Cozumel great curassow (vulnerable) and the Cozumel thrasher (nearly, if not already, extinct). Endemic dwarf mammals are also found on the island: the Cozumel fox (nearly, if not already, extinct), the Cozumel Island coati (endangered) and the Cozumel Island raccoon (endangered). Cozumel is surrounded by a diverse ecosystem of coral reefs that is home to more than 1,000 marine species. A huge portion of the reef on the south side of island is sectioned off into the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park. This park is protected under the Ramsar Convention along with Manglares y Humedales del Norte de Isla Cozumel, they both are included in the UNESCO protected area called Isla Cozumel Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. The park is also a habitat to several endangered marine species such as the loggerhead sea turtle, hawksbill sea turtle, queen triggerfish, and the endemic splendid toadfish.
Criteria: Natural

Resources: Cozumel, Splendid toadfish, Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park

I second this as the Humboldt Current is not represented yet.


An interesting Maya site, different enough from what's already on the list. I will second this.


Wouldn't it be better to include Cotahuasi Canyon as well, now that it has been included in the new Peruvian tentative list?

Name: Ometepe
Country: Nicaragua
TWHS: no
Description: The major ecosystem types on Ometepe Island are wetlands and tropical rainforests characterized by Cedrela odorata (Spanish cedar) and Guarea grandifolia (genus of evergreen trees). Additionally, the fog forests in the biosphere reserve boast the highest conservation value in all of Nicaragua. Approximately 2,022 examples of archaeological significance recorded in the area. Many take the form of religious statues coloured with specific patterns; for example, black and polished colours are typical of black ceramics. Ometepe additionally has a high concentration of petroglyphs.
Criteria: mixed

Name: Palaeoindian cave shelters Patagonia
Country: Chile
TWHS: yes (1873, 1204)
Description: Monte Verde, Fell and Pali Aike caves in Patagonia bear testimony to one of the earliest habitations of the Americas found so far, with Monte Verde being at least 14800 years old. Finds include knives, arrow heads, beads and bolas.
Criteria: cultural

Full Name of Site: Rural Temples of Cusco
Country: Peru
TWHS? Yes
Short description of site: This site would encompass the 10 churches of the TWHS. The rural temples of Cusco are remarkable and very representative examples of the first doctrine temples built in the Cusco region, which illustrate both in their architecture and interior equipment the material expressions of the evangelization process used by Spanish religious through visual resources destined to impress and instruct the natives. they are outstanding testimonies of the process of evolution of local architecture and viceregal art. Although the architectonic characteristics of the rural doctrine temples are not unique or typical of the region since in general they were common, it is exceptional in the conjunction between the building and its internal equipment composed of retables, figures in the round, pulpits, canvases, goldsmiths, etc. and mural painting destined to enrich the temples and transmit the ideals of the counter-reformation and evangelization.
Criteria: Cultural

Resources: Rural Temples of Cusco, Andean Baroque Route

I second this, because the site, although lesser known, seems to be put on par with the more important archeological sites of Peru.

Name: La Brea Pitch Lake
Country: Trinidad Tobago
TWHS: yes (5645)
Description: This is the largest and most significant pitch lake in the world, the natural phenomenon of Pitch Lakes is an important aspect of earth's history; it relates to the formation of oil and gas. The microbial diversity was found to be unique when compared to microbial communities analyzed at other hydrocarbon-rich environments. Archaeal and bacterial communities co-exist, with novel species having being discovered from Pitch Lake samples. Besides this, novel fungal life forms are described which can grow on the available asphaltenes as a sole carbon and energy source.
Criteria: natural

Name: Bonaire Marine Park
Country: Netherlands (but relevant, since Caribbean)
TWHS: yes (5627)
Description: Bonaire Marine Park is the healthiest and best preserved coral reef in the Caribbean Sea. It consists of 2,700 hectares of coral reef, seagrass beds and mangroves, and is the habitat of over 50 varieties of stony coral and over 350 species of reef fish. The Park's flora and fauna are in excellent condition.
Criteria: natural

Full Name of Site: Olmec heartland
Country: Mexico
TWHS? No
Short description of site: The Olmec culture, the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization, is not yet represented on the WHL. Most researchers consider the Olmec heartland to be the home of the Olmec culture which became widespread over Mesoamerica from 1400 BCE until roughly 400 BCE. The major heartland sites are: San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta and Tres Zapotes. (1) San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán is the collective name for three related archaeological sites (San Lorenzo, Tenochtitlán and Potrero Nuevo), best known today for the colossal stone heads unearthed there. San Lorenzo also boasted an elaborate drainage system which used buried, covered, channeled stones as a type of "pipe". (2) The arrangement of the mounds, platforms, complexes, and monumental artifacts at La Venta created a unique civil and ceremonial center that constitutes "one of the earliest examples of large-scale ideological communications through the interaction of architecture and sculpture". "The Great Pyramid" is the central building in the city layout, is constructed almost entirely out of clay, and is easily seen from far away. It is one of the earliest pyramids known in Mesoamerica. (3) Over 160 mounds, platforms, and similar structures have been identified at Tres Zapotes, most of these being low residential platforms. This equidistant spacing likely reflects a decentralized political structure, each mound group the creation of a separate faction within Tres Zapotes society.
Criteria: Cultural

Resources: Olmec heartland, San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta, Tres Zapotes

I was wondering the same. It would make sens to me.



These two sites seem unique and not listed yet. I second them.



I will also second those two coral reef sites.

Full Name of Site: Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago
Country: Brazil
TWHS? No
Short description of site: The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean. It lies approximately 510 nmi (940 km) from the nearest point of mainland South America. The islets expose serpentinized abyssal mantle peridotite and kaersutite-bearing ultramafic mylonite atop the world's highest and yet only second largest megamullion (after the Parece Vela megamullion under Okinotorishima in the Pacific Ocean). This grouping is the sole location in the Atlantic Ocean where the abyssal mantle is exposed above sea level. Only the largest of the islets, Belmonte, is vegetated with mosses and grasses. The other rocks are mostly barren, except for some sea algae and fungi that can tolerate the salt spray. The rocks are inhabited by seabirds, including the brown booby (Sula leucogaster), brown noddy (Anous stolidus), and black noddy (Anous minutus), as well as crabs (Grapsus grapsus), insects and spiders. [Wikipedia]
Criteria: Natural

Resource: This cool book with lots of pictures!

Full Name of Site: Iberá National Park
Country: Argentina
TWHS? No
Short description of site: The Iberá Provincial Reserve is a provincial protected area in the north-west of Corrientes Province, north-eastern Argentina. It contains a mix of swamps, bogs, stagnant lakes, lagoons, natural sloughs and courses of water. It it part of the Iberá Wetlands, a greater system of marshes of 1,500,000–2,000,000 ha, the second-largest wetland in the world after Pantanal in Brazil, and one of the most important fresh water reservoirs in the continent. This lagoon system is typically very shallow, although in times of floods it can reach over three meters deep. Few areas of dry land alternate with these water bodies, mostly low and sandy hills; the rest is covered by a large expanse of floodplains. In addition, natural dams are formed by root entanglement of floating vegetation formations that are sometimes strong enough to walk on them. The natural reserve is known for its biodiversity, including four species that have been declared "provincial natural monuments": the neotropical otter, the maned wolf, the pampas deer and the marsh deer. It is also home to the two Argentine species of alligator, the yacare caiman and the broad-snouted caiman (yacaré overo), as well as the world's largest rodent, the capybara, and about 350 bird species. [Wikipedia]
Criteria: Natural