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ANCIENT MAYA CITY AND PROTECTED TROPICAL FOREST OF CALAKMUL
CRITERIA
Cultural Criteria (i): Because it has preserved intact archaeological remains of
the development of the Maya civilization for more than ten centuries in a
natural environment of tropical forests.
Cultural Criteria (ii): Because of the cultural combination of different traditions
that gave rise to specific architectural styles, unique archaeological pieces
and ingenious modifications of the natural surroundings.
Cultural Criteria (iii): Because it has been a witness to the extraordinary development of the Maya civilization.
Cultural Criteria (iv): Because it is an example of monumental Maya architecture, reflection of the complex social growth during the Preclassic and
Classic Periods.
Natural Criteria (ix): Because it is an amazing proof of the lengthy interaction
between man and nature, which resulted in a complex mosaic of tropical
forest communities.
Natural Criteria (x): Because of the adaptations of the tropical forest which
maintains a rich biodiversity and critical habitats for species and endemic
and threatened populations.
PROTECTION AND MANAGEMENT
The Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche,
is comprised of an extension of 331, 397 hectares, and a buffer zone of 391, 788
hectares. The ecological and cultural integrity of the property is guaranteed due
to its location within the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, established in 1989.
The totality of the property being nominated and its buffer zone corresponds to the Federal Government, in coordination between the National
Commission of Natural Protected Areas (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas / CONANP) and the National Institute of Anthropology and
History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia / INAH), without damage
to their corresponding legal and administrative attributions. Legal instruments
needed for the management of the Site, where cultural and natural elements
coincide in the same area, are in place.
88% of the surface area of the nominated property is Federal property and
all archaeological sites that are included in this property already have a double
regime of protection under the Federal Law for Archaeological, Artistic and Historical
Monuments and Sites (Ley Federal de Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicos, Artísticos e Históricos)
and the General Law for Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del
Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente) due to it being a natural protected area,
under the category of Biosphere Reserve.
Thus, the limits established for the nominated property are those which currently concentrate and combine the six criteria by which it was nominated, in addition to articulating all these values which constitute the essence of the nomination
and are the most viable to guarantee the protection and management of the site.
With this nomination of a mixed property, Ancient Maya City and Protected
Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico fulfills and is consistent with the
policy established by the World Heritage Committee with the Global Strategy
of 1994 which establishes the principles for a representative, balanced and
credible World Heritage List.