Canadian UNESCO WHS

Recentely the canadian postal service issued a set of 5 cards featuring magnificent vistas of 5 Canada’s UNESCO World Heritage sites. Émilie was offering these sets and I asked her to send me 3 of the cards, Nahanni National Park, Miguasha National Park and Joggins Fossil Cliffs, on the list since 1978, 1999, 2008. Here they are.  

 Photo: Parks Canada / Parcs Canada © 2014 Canada Post

Located along the South Nahanni River, one of the most spectacular wild rivers in North America, this park contains deep canyons and huge waterfalls, as well as a unique limestone cave system. The park is also home to animals of the boreal forest, such as wolves, grizzly bears and caribou. Dall's sheep and mountain goats are found in the park's alpine environment. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/24

  Photo: Parc National de Miguasha / Miguasha National Park SÉPAC © 2014 Canada Post

The palaeontological site of Miguasha National Park, in south-eastern Quebec on the southern coast of the Gaspé peninsula, is considered to be the world's most outstanding illustration of the Devonian Period known as the 'Age of Fishes'. Dating from 370 million years ago, the Upper Devonian Escuminac Formation represented here contains five of the six fossil fish groups associated with this period. Its significance stems from the discovery there of the highest number and best-preserved fossil specimens of the lobe-finned fishes that gave rise to the first four-legged, air-breathing terrestrial vertebrates – the tetrapods. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/686

 Photo: Joggins Fossil Institute © 2014 Canada Post

The Joggins Fossil Cliffs, a 689 ha palaeontological site along the coast of Nova Scotia (eastern Canada), have been described as the “coal age Galápagos” due to their wealth of fossils from the Carboniferous period (354 to 290 million years ago). The rocks of this site are considered to be iconic for this period of the history of Earth and are the world’s thickest and most comprehensive record of the Pennsylvanian strata (dating back 318 to 303 million years) with the most complete known fossil record of terrestrial life from that time. These include the remains and tracks of very early animals and the rainforest in which they lived, left in situ, intact and undisturbed. With its 14.7 km of sea cliffs, low bluffs, rock platforms and beach, the site groups remains of three ecosystems: estuarine bay, floodplain rainforest and fire prone forested alluvial plain with freshwater pools. It offers the richest assemblage known of the fossil life in these three ecosystems with 96 genera and 148 species of fossils and 20 footprint groups. The site is listed as containing outstanding examples representing major stages in the history of Earth. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1285