Virtually free from human exploitation, Marquesan waters are among the world’s last marine wilderness areas.”
French Polynesia’s Marquesas Islands have been named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Among the 24 sites added to the list at the World Heritage Committee meeting last week in New Delhi, India, the Marquesas Islands were the only new entrant on the list as a “mixed property”—that is, they met criteria for being significant to world heritage for both natural and human development attributes.
Officially entered as “Te Henua Enata – Marquesas Islands” UNESCO describes the islands in part, as meriting addition to the list because it “bears an exceptional testimony to the territorial occupation of the Marquesas archipelago by a human civilization that arrived by sea around the year 1000 C.E. and developed on these isolated islands between the 10th and the 19th centuries. It is also a hotspot of biodiversity that combines irreplaceable and exceptionally well conserved marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Marked by sharp ridges, impressive peaks and cliffs rising abruptly above the ocean, the landscapes of the archipelago are unparalleled in these tropical latitudes.”
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The Marquesas Islands are part of the French Overseas Territory of French Polynesia, which are marketed to international visitors as The Islands of Tahiti. The islands are, however, nearly 1,000 miles distant from Tahiti itself, and have their own language and culture. They also have a longer history of association with the French Republic, having joined by treaty in 1842, decades before France annexed the remaining islands in what was later amalgamated into a single territory spanning an area of the Pacific roughly the size of Europe. French Polynesians have had French citizenship since 1946.
Te Henua Enata is the name of the islands in the Marquesan Language, with respect given to both the northern and southern dialects. (In the southern dialect Henua becomes Fenua; in the northern dialect Enata become Enana). The first Europeans to name the island on a map were Spanish, thus the name Marquesas; in French the islands are called Les Marquises.
UNESCO also noted the extreme biodiversity and endemism of the islands: “Virtually free from human exploitation, Marquesan waters are among the world’s last marine wilderness areas.”
Tahiti Tourisme CEO Jean-Marc Mocellin was positive about the inscription of the islands to the UNESCO World Heritage list: “This inscription is a unique opportunity to showcase the exceptional cultural and environmental heritage of the Marquesas Archipelago internationally and will reinforce the positioning of The Islands of Tahiti as an inclusive and sustainable tourism destination,” he told Fodor’s.
The Marquesas are the second World Heritage site in French Polynesia. The marae (temple) at Taputapuātea on the island of Ra’iātea was inscribed to the World Heritage list in 2017.
Visiting the Marquesas Islands
Over three hours by air away from Tahiti, the islands receive only a trickle of visitors each year, mostly by cruise ship. The combination cargo/cruise ship Aranui V makes frequent visits to even the smallest, airport-free islands in the group; while they’re also visited incidentally by a handful of luxury and expedition cruise lines. For visitors who do chose to go by air, there are hotels on the islands Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa, which also receive regular flights from Tahiti. Smaller islands in the group have pensions, or guest houses, and are accessible by regional flights or by boat.
Visitors may wish to brush up on their French or take a translation app—English is less widely spoken than in other parts of French Polynesia.
Once in the Marquesas, visitors can take in their exceptional natural beauty via excursions on land or sea, including hiking, boat trips, cultural tours and demonstrations. The islands are renowned for intricate wood carving by local artisans, who sell their one-of-a-kind pieces at local artisanal centers. The islands are also known for their enormous yellow-fleshed grapefruits, among an abundance of other tropical fruits.
Other World Heritage Additions
Twenty-two other sites were also added to the World Heritage list at the meeting in New Delhi. The Monastery of Saint Hilarion Monastery/Tell Umm Amer in Gaza, Palestine, was simultaneously added to both the World Heritage and World Heritage in Danger lists. Stonehenge, in the United Kingdom, was under discussion for inscription on the World Heritage in Danger list, but ultimately not added.
The 22 sites new to the World Heritage list for 2024 include:
– Badain Jaran Desert – Towers of Sand and Lakes (China)
– Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital (China)
– Cultural Landscape of Kenozero Lake (Russia)
– Frontiers of the Roman Empire – Dacia (Romania)
– Hegmataneh (Iran)
– Human Rights, Liberation and Reconciliation: Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (South Africa)
– Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (Brazil)
– Melka Kunture and Balchit: Archaeological and Palaeontological Sites in the Highland Area of Ethiopia (Ethiopia)
– Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty (India)
– Phu Phrabat, a testimony to the Sīma stone tradition of the Dvaravati period (Thailand)
– Royal Court of Tiébélé (Burkina Faso)
– Sado Island Gold Mines (Japan)
– Saint Hilarion Monastery/ Tell Umm Amer (Palestine)
– Schwerin Residence Ensemble (Germany)
– The Archaeological Heritage of Niah National Park’s Caves Complex (Malaysia)
– The Cultural Landscape of Al-Faw Archaeological Area (Saudi Arabia)
– The Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour: The Pleistocene Occupation Sites of South Africa (South Africa)
– The Flow Country (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
– The Historic Town and Archaeological Site of Gedi (Kenya)
– Umm Al-Jimāl (Jordan)
– Via Appia. Regina Viarum (Italy)
– Vjetrenica Cave, Ravno (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
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