Darwin's Landscape Laboratory bid for World Heritage Site Status

On January 30th 2009 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport put forward Darwin's Landscape Laboratory to UNESCO as the UK's 2009 World Heritage Site nomination.

The nominated area is the farmed landscape of the Downe and Cudham valleys, either side of Down House and grounds, all used by Charles Darwin to develop and demonstrate his theory of evolution through the study of plants and animals in natural settings and under human management. This area was Darwin's workplace and field study area during the forty years  he lived at Down House until his death in 1882.

The case for World Heritage Site status draws substantially from research carried out by  trustee Randal Keynes and Professor David Kohn, the Trust's Senior Research Fellow, into Darwin's observations and experiments in the area of Downe.

The partnership of organisations responsible for the bid is led by The London Borough of Bromley, and includes English Heritage, The Charles Darwin Trust, Natural England, the Natural History Museum, and the London and Kent Wildlife Trusts.

The bid will now be evaluated by UNESCO and a decision taken by the World Heritage Committee in summer 2010.