Our Natural World Heritage
50 of the Most Beautiful and Biodiverse Places
by Christopher Woods
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date Oct 17 2023 | Archive Date Oct 17 2023
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Description
This lush, photo-driven guide introduces 50 of the most magnificently biodiverse places around the world, revealing not only their physical beauty but also celebrating the flora and fauna that make them unique.
Did you know that Kakadu National Park in Australia boasts some of the oldest exposed rock on the planet and is known to have been inhabited continuously for over 40,000 years? That Lake Malawi contains the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world—over 3,000? Or that the tiny Madeiran archipelago off the coast of Northern Africa is the last vestige of the original majestic laurel forests that once covered most of Southern Europe? Published in partnership with UNESCO World Heritage, Our Natural World Heritage showcases 50 of the planet’s most beautiful and biodiverse landscapes, each identified as a site of outstanding universal value and an irreplaceable source of life and inspiration. Over 900 color images and evocative, accessible text reveal what makes each site unique, through an exploration of its flora, fauna, and natural history. This is awe-inspiring natural beauty that belongs to us all.Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781643261058 |
PRICE | $50.00 (USD) |
PAGES | 444 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
A glorious collection of natural wonders! When I think of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, I immediately think of ancient man-made structures and charming medieval cities frozen in time. I don't always think about the flora or the fauna....until now. This author encircles the globe and showcases some of the world's most pristine and unspoiled natural locations. Eco-travelers, naturists and conservationists alike will appreciate this well-researched book and revel in its spectacular photography.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a nice coffee table book.
The book is full of pictures of various World Heritage sites with information about them. I was hoping for some historical information, but it's mostly about the flora and fauna and seasons. The pictures are beautiful and the information about each place is somewhat high level. It's a nice book to flip through.
I fell in love with this book! I knew it would be a collection of beautiful images from all around the world, but wow! Beautiful does not begin to describe them or do them justice. Truth be told, they are but glimpses of the splendor to be found in this beautiful world. I really love the tidbits of knowledge shared for each of the 50 locations. I really did learn quite a bit as I read through, particularly about the flora and fauna of the various locations. Would make a beautiful addition to any coffee table or travel library.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.
What a marvelous feast for the eyes and mind!
The pictures are my thing but not the only thing to appreciate here. There is detailed information about the flora and quite a lot about the fauna, too. These heritage sites are not man made, but some are on the brink of destruction by man. All around the globe there are exceptionally beautiful and different aspects of nature and biodiversity, and here they are portrayed so clearly that we don't have to go there and contribute to their destruction. Enjoy!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Timber Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
This offering with photography and information about 50 of the 257 natural sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list is absolutely beautiful. The photography is stunning, and the geological, botanical, environmental, and zoological information about the various sites is detailed enough to satisfy the curiosity of most.
What an awesome reminder of the amazing beauty, adaptability, power, and yet fragility to be found in nature!
My thanks to Christopher Woods and Timber Press for allowing me to read a DRC of the book via NetGalley. The book is scheduled for publication 10/17/23. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given.
Wow! What a breathtakingly beautiful book. I throughly enjoyed being taken on a journey throughout this book. It would make a beautiful gift for a traveler or nature lover. Perfect for a coffee table. The imagery is spectacular and it’s filled with so much detailed information.
Thank you #NetGalley, #TimberPress, #ChristopherWoods and #OurNaturalWorldHeritage for the advance readers copy for my honest review.
Oh my. What a beautiful journey into our magnificent world. This book is a must, whether for yourself, an earth-loving friend or someone who needs to be reminded who our true mother is, and why drastic action is required to save her.
I very rarely give 5 stars, but in this case they are worth every twinkle.
Thanks Timber Press, Christopher Woods and Net Galley for my ARC.
This book is beautiful! It focuses more on the flora and fauna as well as the seasons of these UNESCO Heritage Sites. These are the areas that are being endangered by human interference. Each site offers something completely unique and highlights the biodiversity of that region. I found myself adding more places to my travel list that I would love to visit! The author includes some interesting information about the biosphere at each location and tips if you ever choose to go and visit one of these sights. However, to protect these areas, maybe looking at them through this book is the better option!
Thank you to Net Galley, Timber Press and Christopher Woods for this beautiful ARC!
ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING! They weren’t lying when they said most beautiful places! This is definitely a book I’d buy to have on my coffee table for all my guests to see! Stunning!
Absolutely gorgeous, and a necessary addition to any library (or personal collection!) on natural wonders. This is also the kind of book that would make a fantastic gift or "coffee table" book: gorgeous photos, information, and layout. A good amount of description that was informative but not overwhelming. An instant five-star read.
Thank you Netgalley/Timber Press for the ARC.
Such beautiful natural places all contained in one collection! Thankful to NetGalley and the publisher for sharing a copy of this book with me. Really enjoying it.
Wow!
This book brought me back to laying on the floor in front of my childhood bookshelf as a young eager reader wanting to explore the world one day! This would have been my favourite book to read and just to flip through imaging all sorts of travel adventures I would embark on one day!
Such well written descriptions of all of the locations as well as photos that definitely set the mood for each place.
It definitely made me start a new list of places I want to seek out!
Well done!
Thankyou to the Author Christopher Woods, publisher Timber Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and look at this book early!
Gorgeous book that deserves a place on your coffee table! Our Natural World Heritage showcases 50 of the planet’s most beautiful and biodiverse landscapes, with gorgeous pictures, and fascinating background of these natural wonders. This book is geared more toward the flora and fauna, rather this historical information about the sites.
Lovely, lovely book! Thank you Netgalley and Timberpress for the ARC!
This book is an amazing look at 50 world heritage sites. Arranged by continent, the author gives a detailed description of what makes the site unique. The descriptions of the flora and fauna of each site are enhanced by breathtaking photographs.
The average person will be lucky to visit a handful of these sights in their lifetime, now in a matter of hours they can get a sampling of the beauty and diversity of our world.
This would be a wonderful book to enjoy a site at a time as well as to read cover to cover in one sitting.
Arranged by geographical location, this book of UNESCO natural sites, is a beautiful and timely reminder that our world is fragile and that the places we treasure most are in peril. A must have for anyone who loves the natural world
Beautiful photography of UNESCO sites that I didn’t even know existed. This would be a great coffee table book but also has some very interesting substantive text about the sites. This is a quick read but will make you want to travel to all of these great places. Looking forward to the next edition with more UNESCO sites.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.
I would absolutely love a physical copy of this book. The photographer has done an amazing job of capturing the nature especially the macro shots. It has got so many facts about nature and its biodiversity.
Our Natural World Heritage by Christopher Woods, explores 50 of the 257 World Heritage Sites. With biodiversity as his primary focus, Woods highlights concerns about negative human behavior that is devastating to our future.
“The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it,” goes an excerpt from a longer quote by David Suzuki, as referenced by the author. I think this is an accurate statement to reflect what we’re experiencing now all around the world.
Throughout his journey, Woods calls out plants and animals native to the many regions he visits. From the conifers of New Zealand to the waters of Belize and epic glaciers of Iceland, he takes us across varying terrains always highlighting the urgency of our ever-changing climate through bright, beautiful photos and interesting facts. Our Natural World Heritage is a great introduction to climate change for any explorer, big or small.
This beautiful coffee table book takes readers around the world to visit some of the most spectacular landscapes and vistas that have escaped development. The book is divided into large continental sections. Each heritage site has text that describes the location, the date it became a world heritage site, and iconic flora or fauna that inhabit it. Beautiful two-page spreads are accompanied by a page of photos that concentrate on close-up shots of plants and animals. This is a terrific book for an avid traveler, national park geek, or nature photographer. I've only been to one of these heritage sites, and as much as I'd like to visit many of them, that seems unlikely. But this book allowed me to discover the unknown beauty of places like Croatia and Iran as well as more famous locales such as Ngorongoro. The book also serves to remind us why preserving nature and these heritage sites is so crucial to maintain biodiversity and the health of our home planet.
Beautiful book with amazing illustrations. Makes you want to grab your passport and a partner and explore the wonders of the world.
A lovely book, with interesting facts about beautiful places. Would definitely buy this as a coffee table book when it is published!
Thank you, NetGalley, Christopher Woods, and publishers for gifting me a copy of Our Natural World Heritage in return for my honest opinion.
4.5/5 stars
This a wonderful collection of photos from National parks and Heritage sights from around the world. The pictures and accompanying text help you visualize yourself in that place. One of my favorites was Laurisilva of Maderia in Portugal, the tree canopy pictures are stunning and I wish I could be there. This would make a wonderful coffee table book, or a wonderful addition to any collection of photos.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC copy of Our Natural World Heritage.
This book is beautiful and would be a lovely coffee table book. I loved that the author listed the native plant species of all the Unesco sites, very interesting to read and learn about them. If you are a plant lover then definitely pick this one up.
The photographs are beautiful. I love the way the book was arranged and there was so many places that I would love to see in person. I recommend getting the physical book so you can enjoy the photographs in full size. I learned about places I wasn't aware existed as well as seeing some of my favorite places. Excellent book.
5 stars
This book is certainly a treasure! Not only does it include exquisite photography but the author describes each location throughout the 50 world highlights showcased in this book. Additional photos of flora, fauna and wildlife are also included with again information regarding each.
I highly recommend Our Natural World Heritage either to read in a few sittings or left on the coffee table to read at random or refer to often.
Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for allowing me to read an advance ecopy of this work.
What a beautiful book that gives us a chance to see the most gorgeous biodiverse landscapes of the world. I enjoyed reading and learning about all of them. It is a perfect way of reminding us about our natural heritage that we have to keep and protect.
This book is amazing! I have added so many places to my must see list. I love that the book taught about what makes the region unique and wasn’t travel focused based on when hot tourism seasons were. I learned a lot about the photos that intrigued me.
This coffee table book is for the nature lover or arm chair traveler. It features National Parks or Natural Unesco Heritage sights. The focus is on flora and fauna not human made structures. Sections include; Oceania, The Americas, Europe, Africa, The Middle East and Asia. It only features two National Parks from the USA, Redwoods and Waterton/Glacier (sharing with Canada). Each park gets 5-10 pages to show multiple photo and allow good basic descriptions of the area and its uniqueness. This is a beautiful and informative book.
Thank you Timber Press for the temporary ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving a voluntary review.
A family friend identifies World Heritage sites in countries they are visiting and uses them as a guide for making the itineraries for vacations. We try to do the same too. This would make a wonderful reference book for exactly that purpose. It’s really a big bonus that the book is chock full of beautiful, colorful photographs of the places and icons that have earned them the UNESCO World Heritage badge of honor. It’s sad though to read about the issues that may be destroying the elements that make them special and worthy of conservation. I hope we never lose these precious irreplaceable locales, plants and wildlife.
This stunning book is full of visual delights, and would make a great gift for anyone who enjoys seeing pictures of beautiful places and learning about our world.
The places listed are sorted by geographical region, and the diversity as we traverse the world is absolutely stunning. From mountains to rainforests to deserts and coral reefs, our world is full of beauty. The photography is glorious, full of vibrant images of the flora and fauna around the world. The text is very informative and teaches the reader about the diverse organisms in various regions of the world. The author clearly put a great deal of research into the writing of this book. I added several new places to my bucket list while reading!
Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Beautiful photography! A great book to dream by. I'll probably never visit most of these places, as I try not to fly anymore, so it's nice to see beautiful pictures like this. The accompanying writing is also nice. There is a lot of focus on trees and plants, I learned about some new plants I didn't know yet. So definitely recommended for people who love books with amazing nature photography!
A book full of beautiful photos of our world that inspire wanderlust and awe. Between the lines, any reader must also feel the undercurrent of fierce desire to preserve our world in the face of a radically changing climate and human incursion into these spaces. UNESCO preserves many natural wonders and unique environs, but there is always more we could do to honour and respect our natural world.
Getting off my soap box, I always love to see coffee table books/picture books for adults that feature amazing photography and open up the world to be just a little bigger.
Stunning, high quality images. I was surprised by how much content there was on each site - a wonderful resource. The only issue that I had was that Woods consistently referred to events happening in the Tertiary Period, which has not been recognized since 2008 when it was replaced with Paleogene and Neogene.
This book captures some of the most beautiful ecosystems in the world. The photography is crisp and lively, and the descriptions bring to life the images. I would recommend this book be added to my library's collection.
Our Natural World Heritage is a beautiful collection of information and breathtaking photos of some of the most beautiful places on earth. Organized by regions, we travel through Oceania, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and finish in the gorgeous Middle East and Asia.
Each section introduces us to a new UNESCO site, showing of Mother Nature in all her glory. We get some history of the site, a lot of information about the geography, flora and fauna, and absolutely beautiful pictures. This book should be on coffee tables across America. Definitely worth getting your own copy of this one. Gorgeous tome!
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advanced review copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review on the book!
5o of the world’s most magnificent spaces are celebrated for the flora and fauna in “Our Natural World Heritage”. Identified by their inspiring biodiversity, each one of these places is explored with beautiful photos, interesting facts, and an explanation of the challenges they face now, be it global warming, intrusive farming practices, poaching, or other things such as the impact of industry,
Whilst appreciating the amazing elements of each biodiversity, one can’t help but feel moved to do more to protect these unique and important places and the flora and fauna that call them home. I found it interesting how much more of a role animals had in the conversations about the continent of Africa and feel so grateful to live in such a wonderful place. Calling South Africa home, I felt there could have been so many more pages on us (we did get a mention) but I think that shows just how amazing the globe is all around, this is a highlights package of all we need to love and appreciate about our natural habitats.
Of course, with visually stunning places like these, one can’t help but want more photos of everywhere but at 400 plus pages, I know why more weren’t included! It prompted an online search as I went along!
If you enjoy learning about our natural world, this is a fascinating read! It’s five out of five and highly recommended.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Timber Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Our Natural World Heritage by Christopher Woods contains fifty of the most spellbinding natural wonders anywhere, many of which I had heard of (and have had the pleasure to visit a few) and many I hadn't. What a pleasure to learn more about our magnificent world! Not only is the photography phenomenal but the information is compelling. After reading and poring over this book my brain feels expanded!
One of the most impossibly beautiful natural UNESCO World Heritage sites I have visited is Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia so I was thrilled to see it highlighted in this book. Pure magic. Amongst my favourites in America is Redwood National and State Parks and Waterton National Park in Canada, also detailed here. But there is so much more to discover on each continent from the tiniest of frogs to tropical birds to fish to Tanzanian predators. Then there are rock formations, fjords, floral valleys, reefs, deltas and deserts. So much beauty is rewarding to seek out.
Whether you have a travel bucket list or prefer armchair travel, this book is an exceptional one to enjoy.
My sincere thank you to Timber Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of Our Natural World Heritage.
OUR NATURAL WORLD HERITAGE by Christopher Woods was magical, inspirational, and eyeopening. Not only is the book beautifully written and illustrated, but it's also detailed and educational -- prompting me to add destinations to my most desired places to see. I've been to a few and this guide absolutely summarizes the wonder of these stunning treasures. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.
It's the perfect book for an armchair traveller or if you want to dream of great places.Wonderful pictures, great places that we hope won't be a dream in some years.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Our Natural World Heritage is an exploration of 50 of the most beautiful sites on our planet Earth. From Belize’s Barrier Reef to the Wadden Sea to Xinjiang Tianshan in China, we are given a glimpse into each landscape’s environment. Through words and stunning photography, we are transported across the globe and immersed in the flora and fauna of each site.
Our Natural World Heritage makes a great coffee table book or gift for anyone who has an interest in travel or nature and will invoke the spirit of wanderlust in young and old alike.