Heard and McDonald Islands, World Heritage Site: Discovery, The Environment and Nature

Heard and McDonald Islands, World Heritage Site. Discovery, The Environment and Nature. A Book on Heard and McDonald Islands The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) which includes the islands and the surrounding ocean to 12 nautical miles from shore was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 for its outstanding universal natural values. The World Heritage List is a register of properties worldwide that exhibit outstanding universal natural and/or cultural values, and was established under the Convention Concerning the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the World Heritage Convention). The human history of Heard Island and the surrounding waters is relatively short, with the first confirmed sighting of the Island in 1853, and the first landing in 1854.
The next 50 or so years were not the most favourable in terms of environmental protection, with the primary activities undertaken ashore and in the seas involving the comprehensive and intensive harvesting of marine mammals, particularly elephant seals.