Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 93 component parts (forests of European beech, Fagus sylvatica) in 18 European countries. Together, the sites protect the largest and least disturbed forests dominated by the beech tree. In many of these stands, especially those in the Carpathians, beech forests have persisted without interruption or interference since the last ice age. These sites document the undisturbed postglacial repopulation of the species.

Carpathian region

The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians include ten separate massifs located along the 185 km long axis from the Rakhiv mountains and Chornohora ridge in Ukraine over the Poloniny Ridge (Slovakia) to the Vihorlat Mountains in Slovakia. The Ancient Beech Forests of Germany include five locations, cover 4,391 hectares and were added in 2011. The Carpathian site covers a total area of 77971.6 ha, out of which only 29278.9 ha are part of the actual preserved area, while the rest is considered a "buffer zone". Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians cover areas of Zakarpattia and Prešov Regions. Over 70% of the site is located in Ukraine. The area includes two national parks, and some habitat controlled areas, mostly in Slovakia. Both national parks, along with a neighboring area in Poland, compose a separate biosphere reserve, the East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. Besides Havešová, Rožok, and Stužica (all of them located in Bukovské vrchy), there is a fourth component situated in Slovakia, named Kyjovský prales of Vihorlat. Ukrainian locations include Chornohora, Kuziy-Trybushany, Maramarosh, Stuzhytsia–Uzhok, Svydovets, and Uholka–Shyrikyi Luh. Only a few of the ten components are accessible to visitors. Stužica is the only one of three locations in Bukovské vrchy (Slovakia) with available hiking trails. In 2017, UNESCO extended the site, adding forests in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain. In 2021 UNESCO extended the site again adding forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, France, Italy, North Macedonia, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. Then in 2023 further minor extensions were made, including an expansion to the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal site in Austria, and the addition of a forest at Paklenica National Park in Croatia.

List of component parts

The component parts included in the site as of December 2023 are:

• Only boundary modification. Udava (Bukovské Vrchy, Slovakia) was created by modifying the boundary of Stužica before. Falascone (Italy) in turn was named previously Umbra Forest (Foresta Umbra). This is a transnational serial nature UNESCO World Heritage Site, encompassing 94 component parts (forests) in 18 European countries. The total area of component parts is 98125.15 ha, including buffer zones 392846.02 ha. The largest total area of component parts is in Ukraine and Romania – 54% total (41% including buffer zones).

Forms of protection

Component parts of this property overlap more or less with various protected areas like national parks, nature reserves, Natura 2000 network. Abbreviations: C – count of component parts in a given cluster N – overlapping with Natura 2000 areas

Tentative list

This forest is placed on the World Heritage Tentative list as a proposal for the expansion of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe site: Montenegro Serbia

Gallery