Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley inscribed on the World Heritage List

Mexico now has a new mixed world heritage site, recognized by UNESCO. The World Heritage Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has approved the inscription of the Mexican site Valle de Tehuacán-Cuicatlán: Habitat originario de Mesoamérica, on the World Heritage List as a Mixed Good, Located between the States of Oaxaca and Puebla

At the 42nd Session of the Committee held in Manama, Bahrain, from 24 June to 4 July 2018, recognized its outstanding universal value for its natural and cultural richness.

Following the declaration of the Valley of Tehuacán-Cuicatlán and pointing out that at the session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO there were cheers for Mexico, the Secretary of Culture, Maria Cristina García Cepeda, said that natural and cultural wealth is the result of the combined work of Mexican academics, environmentalists, anthropologists, cultural promoters and diplomats.

Anthropologist Diego Prieto Hernández, Director General of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), pointed out that with this inscription on the Heritage List UNESCO World Heritage, the natural and cultural values ​​of this space in Mexico are recognized as The integration of the technical application file has been achieved through joint, interdisciplinary and interinstitutional work of different instances and sectors of government Mexican and academy, coordinated by the National Commission. Protected Natural Areas (CONANP-SEMARNAT) and the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH-Secretariat for Culture), which were attended by researchers from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM). close collaboration with the governments of the states of Oaxaca and Puebla.

In addition, the promotion of the Exped The technical staff of the member countries of the World Heritage Committee enjoyed the valuable support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The mixed property is located in south-central Mexico, between the states of Oaxaca and Puebla; It has an area of ​​145,255.20 hectares and a buffer zone of 344,931.68 hectares, in the protected natural area of ​​the Federal Reserve Biosphere Reserve Tehuacán-Cuicatlán.

The valley testifies to the adaptation of the human being in a hostile environment. over more than 14 thousand years, through water systems, domestication of plants, agricultural systems and complementary practices with the use of cactus and salt production, residential settlements and various systems political, religious and linguistic. He also witnessed the emergence of Proto-Ottoman languages ​​that gave birth to the oldest and most diverse linguistic family on the American continent, the Otomangue, with strong roots that continue to this day.

. , discovering relationships of events that allowed us to report on a long history of human occupation, relationships with their natural environment, adaptation and settlement with the domestication of species and technical and cultural evolution that has influenced the entire Mesoamerican region, with a strong roots that remain today.

Similarly, an anthropological, multifunctional and universal vision has been promoted, reflecting a long-standing evolutionary process that goes beyond a purely architectural and monumental vision of cultural heritage.

The dynamic candidacy of the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley, the original habitat of Mesoamerica is also based on UNESCO's thematic program on human evolution: Adaptations, Dispersions and Social Development (HEADS).

In this regard, the World Heritage Center itself emphasized, highlighting the challenge and complexity of the nomination of these sites, places related to the origins of humanity in the Americas, are under- represented on the World Heritage List, hence the importance and relevance of ensuring the recognition, conservation and search of sites related to the process of evolution, adaptation, dispersal and social development on the continent.

The nomination of this mixed Mexican heritage also addresses the objectives of the World Heritage Action Plan for Latin America and the Caribbean (2014-2024), in terms of enhancing credibility of the World Heritage List; ensure the effective conservation of World Heritage properties; to ensure capacity development, particularly in support of the preparation of nominations to the List; and by strengthening the role of communities in the proper implementation of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 1972.

The evaluation and recognition of the Mexican nomination were attended by 15 delegates from the countries member countries of the Committee: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brazil, Cuba, Guatemala, Hungary, Kuwait, Norway, Spain, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Finally, with the inscription of this site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, our country presents to the world a paradigm shift in concept and perspective of valuing properties with exceptional values , reaffirming its position as the leading country in the Americas and the seventh in the world with the highest number of properties recognized by the United Nations, with a total of 35 registered sites: 27 cultural, 6 natural and 2 mixed.