Page 169 - UNESCO_Zatec_2021_A4

possible to compile a plastic overview of the similarities not only have manual methods of activities in fields and
and differences of the Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz plantations survived to this day, but which contain many
Hops property from those represented by other world- ethnic and religious features, in which the production
renowned large-scale agricultural monocultures. cycle is closely associated with folk traditions and local
rituals. Such agricultural landscapes have a very close
Cultural landscapes associated with the cultivation of relationship to the countryside throughout the whole
agricultural crops are a very specific kind of cultural process of cultivation and processing. It is also interesting
landscape. More than both the other general categories that such crops are usually not just single-purpose but
of cultural landscape (i.e. designed or associative ones), give their growers more ways of being used. In such
agricultural landscapes are closely linked to the natural cases, it is clear that the population growing the crop
conditions for growing a particular crop. also consumes it directly or indirectly, and only puts the
surplus into commercial follow-up processes. For a long
The most significant visual characteristic of the time some agricultural landscapes made use of slave
agricultural landscape and the conditional factor labour; this applies to a number of colonial countries
for farming is morphology of the terrain: some crops in the tropics and labour-intensive crops, where the
thrive on sloping terrain, others require horizontal or Outstanding Universal Value of the landscape lies not
artificially prepared terraced areas because of the need only in the plantations themselves, in modifications to
for irrigation. Other differences are closely related to the landscape for growing and processing crops, but also
the local climate, because the success of cultivation has in evidence of the life of non-free peoples in the past.
always depended on the required air temperature and/
or humidity, the intensity of sunlight, etc. The properties ATTRIBUTES OBSERVED IN COMPARISONS
of the specific soil profile are important, which even OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPES
within the same climate zone can differ fundamentally As indicated above, in many cultural landscapes, the
according to the geological composition of the subsoil. It cultivation of economically successful crops forms
can happen that crops of globally significant landscapes a significant part in the Outstanding Universal Value
are undemanding and thrive on poor soils (agave), while attributes. In order to explain the similarities, differences
others are very sensitive to subtle differences in soil and specifics of the nominated Žatec and the Landscape
composition (specific types of wines, Saaz hops, etc.) of Saaz Hops property in comparison with agricultural
productive landscapes inscribed on the World Heritage
Agricultural landscapes that are recognized as part List or Tentative Lists, the following main aspects that are 169
of the world’s heritage are often specific in that they important for such landscapes were therefore observed:
retain evidence of mankind’s skill in making use of its
natural environment or creatively locating or shaping The actual plant/wood species and crops in terms of
structures associated with crop processing. World their characteristics (including whether technical props
Heritage landscapes usually contain growing areas with are necessary for their cultivation), or a direct comparison
crops grown in the same place for centuries. This is true with hops;
regardless of the fact that some species must be planted
annually (rice, tobacco), while others grow on perennial, The growth cycle and seasonality of the harvest, and
sometimes very long-lived woody species (olives, tea thus the dynamics of the field/plantation’s appearance
trees, but also grapes, hop cones) or are the product of during the year or the life cycle of the plant/tree;
other perennial plants (sugar cane, agave). Crop stability
is then the basis for the exploitation of local generational The water demands of the crop, and thus the need
knowledge and is also the basis of local inventiveness, for or existence of an artificially enhanced water system
with a view to improving local techniques. This is also the within the landscape;
case with the nominated property.
The harvesting process, when and for how long it
Agricultural landscapes which are World Heritage, usually takes place in the specific landscape being compared;
also bear witness to a gradual or even revolutionary
transformation in cultivation and processing techniques. The processing method in the specific landscape
In some landscapes, proven practices with a higher share being compared, or more exactly, the use of the crop, its
of manual labour have been maintained even when the single- or multi-purpose use by producers, and thus also
proportion of mechanization has increased in other relationships, rituals, faith;
places, but the continuation of traditions even confirms
the higher quality of traditional practices and increases The visual dynamics of crop cultivation within the
the commercial success of such crops. wider scope of the landscape as well as its seasonal
variability;
Some of the world’s agricultural landscapes represent
a continuing, still vivid picture of crop cultivation closely Crop-related professional aspects - the scientific
linked with the livelihood of the rural population, in which contribution of recent generations building on the