WORLD HERITAGE
World Heritage benefits all of humanity. Therefore, protecting and respecting it is both our obligation and our right.
The UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
World Heritage is made up of those properties or sites that possess Outstanding Universal Value—meaning they hold special significance for both planetary well-being and the history of humanity. Ensuring their preservation and enjoyment is the task of UNESCO through the Convention Concerning the
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
In 1972, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the World Heritage Convention. To date, 196 countries have ratified it, making it one of the most important legal instruments for the protection of heritage.
Mexico joined the Convention in 1984 and currently has 36 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List—28 cultural, six natural, and two mixed—making it one of the Latin American countries with the highest number of listed sites. Through this, Mexico commits to protecting and valuing its cultural and natural heritage within its own legal framework, in accordance with its responsibilities to the international community.
.jpg)
General Information
-
States: Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí
-
Area of the nominated property: 135,421 ha
-
Buffer zone area: 513,966 ha
-
Total area: 649,387 ha
-
National serial nomination
-
World Heritage inscription criteria: (iii), (vi)
Description
The nominated property consists of 20 components located in north-central Mexico, stretching from west to northeast along a 500-kilometer corridor that crosses the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí. This biocultural corridor spans three ecoregions of global importance due to their contribution to biodiversity.
Since 1998, CHAC, the Huichol authorities, and the Council of Elders of Tuapurie have worked tirelessly to meet the technical, legal, and political requirements of the Convention. Their goal has been the inscription of the Huichol Route and its main sacred sites on the World Heritage List as a strategic step for their protection and international recognition.
The inscription of the Huichol Route through the Sacred Sites to Huiricuta on the World Heritage List in July 2025 marks a milestone within the Convention, as it becomes the first property in Latin America to encompass a cultural landscape from a living Indigenous tradition. This achievement represents not only a significant step in the recognition of sacred sites and the spiritual geography of the Wixárika people, but also secures the highest level of international legal protection for safeguarding the sacred sites of the Huichol, as well as those shared with the Cora and Tepehuano peoples.
-
.jpg)
Benefits of Inscribing the Route on the World Heritage List
-
The highest level of legal protection that can be granted to a natural and cultural property under international law.
-
Commitment of the Mexican State before the global community to safeguard the heritage of the sacred landscapes inscribed as World Heritage.
-
Conservation of ecosystems of global priority due to their environmental services.
-
Recognition of Indigenous knowledge and its contribution to the cultural and spiritual diversity of humanity.
-
International visibility of the Route to Huiricuta, enabling new alliances for the conservation of heritage and the sustainable development of the Wixaritari and local communities.
-
Empowerment of the Huichol, Cora, and Tepehuano peoples in the defense of their traditions and rights.
-
Opportunity to expand the protection of additional sacred sites through a future extension of the proposed World Heritage property.
"The ancestral and indivisible relationship between Wixárika culture and the land is expressed through its sacred landscapes."
The vitality with which the Huichol people have preserved their Mesoamerican legacy is unparalleled. Among the most prominent Mesoamerican traits are: the pre-Hispanic layout and functionality of ceremonial centers known as tuquipa; the social and political organization structure embedded within the tuquipa; the spatial arrangement of vernacular architecture; a highly diversified agroforestry milpa system based on the annual maize cycle, which sustains the ritual calendar; the veneration of deified ancestors in nature across an extensive geography; a rich oral tradition; ritual practices; and pilgrimages along ancient trade routes to sacred landscapes. Altogether, these elements form a living and exceptional testimony to the millennia-old cultural models of Mesoamerica.
-