national geographic

Naast het feit dat ze de beste en de duurste zijn om te leven, werd Noorwegen recent door National Geographic Traveler als beste gekozen voor zijn duurzaam beheer van Wereld Erfgoed.

October 2006: Norway’s western fjords top other World Heritage sites in National Geographic survey.

In a survey of the most popular World Heritage sites, Norway’s western fjords emerged as the winner, in competition with other prestigious Unesco sites, such as the great wall of China, Galapagos, the pyramids of Egypt, Grand Canyon, Angkor and Machu Picchu.
The "Destination Scorecard Stewardship" survey was organized by National Geographic Traveler and National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations.

(visitnorway.com - Published 10/2006)

Dit was in maart 2004, bij de eerste uitgave van dit onderzoek, ook reeds het geval.

Remote geography helps some high-scoring destinations stay unspoiled. Other places have learned how to cope with popularity.



It's no surprise that Norway's fjords, rated at 82, lead the top-scoring destinations, thanks to a combination of luck and wise stewardship. Geography dealt the Norwegian coastline a good hand when it comes to remaining unspoiled. Rugged terrain, cool, wet climate, difficult access, and a short tourist season keep development pressures comparatively low. (Note how other "cool-fjord coasts" in Chile and New Zealand also scored well.) It helps, too, to be in a sparsely populated country with one of the world's best environmental track records (although even here some experts took points off for excessive cruise-ship traffic and threats to native salmon).

(National Geographic Traveler - Published 03/2004)

We hadden dus, al bij al, slechter terecht kunnen komen...

Uw erfgoed,
Geert