Ghost of the Forest: the Tangible and Intangible in Natural and Cultural Heritage

Understanding the close interconnectedness of cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage is central to conservation efforts. This point is illustrated by examples in which works of culture have lost their original cultural or natural context – and this includes intangible natural phenomena. Further examples are given in which biological species survived as a genetic continuum but were changed in terms of their intangibles, i.e. their behaviour, in ways that can be perceived by human observers. In this article it is argued that the addition of a fourth category of ‘intangible natural heritage’ to the existing categories of World Heritage would strengthen conservation efforts and bring forward the discussion with an integrated understanding of natural and cultural heritage.