ABSTRACT
The modern distinction between nature and culture has been the subject of various critiques in recent years as inherently limiting to how contemporary society could be organised. Sites of natural heritage are key in this process as they constitute the basis of this division but they can potentially serve as locales of resistance. Although legislation has succeeded in recognising a greater relationship between humans and nature, with both national and international agreements concurring on the basis of 'sustainable development', this is still an association framed by the divide which has been fostered in the modern era. The 'discourse of protection' inevitably ensures that natural places are regarded as apart from wider society, which sets a framework as to how they are perceived and engaged with. The representation of natural heritage as distinct due to its status as formed by some immense ancient process or event can also act to define places as separate from humanity.
