UNESCO lists Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains as world heritage

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) listed Jamaica's Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park as world heritage on Friday.

This marks the first World Heritage site for Jamaica and the first mixed -- cultural and natural -- site for the Caribbean sub-region, according to the Ministry of Youth and Culture of Jamaica.

The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park is located in the eastern part of Jamaica.

Blue Mountain is known as the home of the Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee, which is among the most expensive coffees around the world, while John Crow Mountain is famous for the anti-colonialism history.

The organized anti-colonialism movement of Jamaica dated back to 1600s when escaped African workers settled in John Crow Mountain. After more than 80 years of warfare, a peace treaty was drawn up in 1739 between residents and British colonists.

According to the treaty, residents were allowed to stay in tax-free land in different parts of Jamaica known as Moore Town Maroons.

"Our history, in particular, the struggles and defiance of our Maroon people helped to mould us into being distinctly Jamaican," Minister of Youth and Culture Lisa Hanna told the World Heritage Committee at the UNESCO's 39th session in Bonn, Germany, on Friday.

"To this end, we want the world to not only drink our Blue Mountain Coffee but also see the outstanding universal value of the Blue and John Crow Mountains," she said.

Currently, there are 1,011 sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List, among which only 32 are mixed sites with both cultural and natural significance. Endi