A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. [1] They can be natural geological and geographical features such as waterfalls, cliffs, craters, fossil, sand dunes, rock forms, valleys and coral reefs. Locations important to faith groups may be considered natural monuments. Archeological and historical sites linked to the natural environment are also included, such as cave art. [2] This is especially true when relevant to the land of Indigenous Peoples.
Under the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources [3] guidelines, natural monuments are level III, described as:
This is a lower level of protection than level II (national parks) and level I (wilderness areas).
The European Environment Agency's guidelines for selection of a natural monument are: [4]
Protected areas of Tasmania consist of protected areas located within Tasmania and its immediate onshore waters, including Macquarie Island. It includes areas of crown land managed by Tasmanian Government agencies as well as private reserves. As of 2016, 52% of Tasmania's land area has some form of reservation classification, the majority is managed by the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service. Marine protected areas cover about 7.9% of state waters.
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources is limited.
The Kamay Botany Bay National Park is a heritage-listed protected national park that is located in the eastern part of Botany Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The 456-hectare (1,130-acre) national park is situated approximately 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) south-east of the Sydney central business district, on the northern and southern headlands of Botany Bay. The northern headland is at La Perouse and the southern headland is at Kurnell.
Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as their creating process, shape, elevation, slope, orientation, rock exposure, and soil type.
The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This plateau covers an area of 336,700 km2 (130,000 mi2) within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico, southern and eastern Utah, northern Arizona, and a tiny fraction in the extreme southeast of Nevada. About 90% of the area is drained by the Colorado River and its main tributaries: the Green, San Juan, and Little Colorado. Most of the remainder of the plateau is drained by the Rio Grande and its tributaries.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 mi (68 km) along the shore of Lake Superior and covers 73,236 acres. The park has extensive views of the hilly shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais in Alger County, with picturesque rock formations, waterfalls, and sand dunes.
Whitefish Dunes State Park is a 867-acre (351 ha) state park of Wisconsin on the eastern shore of the Door Peninsula. This day-use park preserves the most substantial sand dunes on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The remains of eight successive prehistoric Native American villages are on the National Register of Historic Places as Whitefish Dunes-Bay View Site. Cave Point County Park is an enclave inside the state park, allowing visitors free foot access to the state park by the shoreline trail connecting the parks.
Hallett Cove Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the suburb of Hallett Cove on the coast of Gulf St Vincent about 22 kilometres south of the centre of the state capital of Adelaide.
The Cronulla sand dunes, also known officially as the Cronulla Sand Dune and Wanda Beach Coastal Landscape, are an open space, heritage-listed nature conservation, and visitor attraction located on the Kurnell Peninsula at Lindum Road, Kurnell within the Sutherland Shire local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Formerly, it was a site for sand mining, film making, and had use as pastoral property. It is also known as part of Kurnell Peninsula Headland and Cronulla Sand Hill. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 26 September 2003.
Monuments is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of Japan as historic locations such as shell mounds, ancient tombs, sites of palaces, sites of forts or castles, monumental dwelling houses and other sites of high historical or scientific value; gardens, bridges, gorges, mountains, and other places of great scenic beauty; and natural features such as animals, plants, and geological or mineral formations of high scientific value.
IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Newland Head Conservation Park is a protected area located in South Australia within the locality of Waitpinga on the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula 91 km south of the centre of Adelaide, and 7 km southwest of Victor Harbor. Its name is taken from Newland Head that feature prominently at the eastern boundary of the park. The conservation park is classified as an IUCN Category III protected area.
A sacred natural site is a natural feature or a large area of land or water having special spiritual significance to peoples and communities. Sacred natural sites consist of all types of natural features including mountains, hills, forests, groves, trees, rivers, lakes, lagoons, caves, islands and springs. They are often considered sacred spaces.
The Grădiștea Muncelului-Cioclovina Natural Park is a protected area situated in Romania, in Hunedoara County.
The Bucegi Natural Park is a protected area situated in Romania, in the administrative territory of counties Brașov, Dâmbovița and Prahova.
Mirusha Park is a regional park located in the central part of Kosovo on the eastern side of the Dukagjin Plain.