Drystone Walling in the UNESCO World Heritage
In November 2018 UNESCO inscribed "The art of drystone walling" in the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The candidacy was promoteed by 9 countries: Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. It was a trans-national effort to recognize the importance of a traditional technique diffused throughout the world, and among others to agricultural terraces.
The UNESCO website presents initiative in this way:
"The art of dry stone walling concerns the knowhow related to making stone constructions by stacking stones upon each other, without using any other materials except sometimes dry soil. Dry stone structures are spread across most rural areas – mainly in steep terrains – both inside and outside inhabited spaces, though they are not unknown in urban areas. The stability of the structures is ensured through the careful selection and placement of the stones, and dry-stone structures have shaped numerous, diverse landscapes, forming various modes of dwelling, farming and husbandry. Such structures testify to the methods and practices used by people from prehistory to today to organize their living and working space by optimizing local natural and human resources. [...]"
