A BID will be entered to make the slate landscape of Gwynedd into a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It will be the UK’s next preferred nomination for World Heritage site status. The landscape was assessed for World Heritage Status by a UK panel of experts this summer and it will be formally presented to UNESCO next year.
The Welsh Minister for culture, tourism and sport, Lord Elis-Thomas, said: “We are delighted the landscape will be put forward as the next UK nomination for inscription as a World Heritage Site. Wales has a unique and varied industrial heritage that is rightly celebrated, this nomination provides further recognition of its global importance.
"The Welsh Government and CADW are actively contributing to the partnership that is preparing the nomination, providing critical technical and management advice.”
Michael Ellis, UK Government Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism, said: “Gwynedd’s slate landscape is hugely important. Its vast quarries and mines have not only shaped the countryside of the region but also countless buildings across the UK and the world.
“This is a crucial milestone on the road to becoming a World Heritage site and the global recognition that brings. While the UNESCO nomination process is very thorough, I believe this unique landscape would be a worthy addition to the list.”
Should the application be approved, the landscape will join the likes of Grand Canyon National Park, The Great Barrier Reef and the Lake District as a designated World Heritage Site. It would be the fourth World Heritage Site in Wales, alongside the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape, the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward at Gwynedd and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
The site was the world’s greatest exporter of slate during the mid 19th century, becoming a key part of the social and economic fabric of North Wales.
The slate mined from the area also had a significant impact on global architecture with its materials used on a vast range of buildings, from terraces to palaces all around the world. The UK can nominate one site per calendar year.
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