Samoa

Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone

WHS Score 0.25 Votes 3 Average 0.33
Fagaloa Bay – Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone is a mixed site consisting of the largest rainforest in the Pacific and a cultural component demonstrating the close association of the Samoan people to the environment. The conservation zone is an area of exceptional natural beauty with mountains, waterfalls, and rugged coastlines that also contains one of the best remaining examples of coastal rainforest in Samoa, which supports a number or rare bird and bat species. This geographically isolated area also provides a living example of the relationship between a community and its environment from the time of first settlement 3000 years in the past – with archeological remains of Lapita pottery, the first pottery made in the Pacific – to the present, with the traditional village of Uafato, which relies on a strong social system guided by the Samoan way of life.
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Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone (ID: 5090)
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Samoa
Status
On tentative list 2006 Site history
History of Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone
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UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
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UNESCO.org

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First published: 20/10/18.

Zoë Sheng

Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone

Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone (On tentative list)

Fagaloa Bay - Uafato Tiavea Conservation Zone by Zoë Sheng

I drove right over the mountain to Uafato, a crazy drive alone but luckily only 10 minutes tops (not that you can't drive the flat northern cape "road" unless you have a 4WD and even then I don't recommend it). I think I wasn't really supposed to though as the villages and beaches in Samoa are private and people looked at me oddly. Nevertheless I made it to the end of the road and one thing is for sure, the views of Fagaloa Bay are great. How about all the stuff they consider world heritage status?

I don't buy the cultural aspect. I mean, sure, they still follow the traditional ways, but a chief system is very intangible. The houses are now "modern" for Samoan style. The entire village was playing cricket and I saw nothing of the sorts of cultural heritage. Even if there is it's so hidden for us because there is no tourism for that kind of thing at the moment. Perhaps one can try to find a home-stay and learn more about it.

Beauty should never be a criteria for a world heritage site. It's what tourists like me look out for. The forest does reach from the mountain to the shore and it does look great, but I don't find that unique. I also didn't see any wildlife so I can't say for sure what I could see.

When I asked about the conservation zone they didn't really know what I was …

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