Even though Nils Natorp has walked here countless times before, he still takes out his phone to snap a few photos. He can’t help himself. The sun is shining, making the landscape even more postcard-worthy with blue skies and azure water by the shoreline.
Nils Natorp, director of Geocenter Møns Klint, is giving us a tour of the unique landscape formed during the last ice age.
Back then, the underground chalk was pushed up by the powerful forces of the ice, creating Møns Klint. Now, we stand atop the cliff, about 120 meters above sea level, looking out and down towards the beach below.
»I never get tired of photographing this«, says Nils Natorp.
Over a year ago — in February 2024 — the Minister of Culture signed an application to make Møns Klint a World Heritage site in the natural category and to be included on the prestigious World Heritage list.
This list features over 1,000 sites worldwide deemed worthy of preservation for their natural or cultural significance.
The list is curated by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, headquartered in Paris. In Denmark, Kronborg Castle, the Wadden Sea, and Stevns Klint are among the 12 sites already on the list.
Now, it might be Møns Klint’s turn. Back in 2018, Møns Klint made it onto the tentative list of Danish sites that could potentially be nominated, marking a long journey to reach this point.
»We aim to be recognized as the best place in the world to view glacier-formed landscapes«, says Nils Natorp.
Spotting a grass snake
In the calm weather, something suddenly moves. We walk down a long wooden staircase leading to the beach, flanked by shrubs on both sides. There, my eyes catch sight of a snake. I’ve never seen one in the wild before, so I can hardly believe it, but it’s real. Completely black with two yellow spots on its neck.
»That’s a grass snake. It’s just woken up. They’re starting to emerge now. They’re cold-blooded, so they move slowly at this time«, says Nils Natorp.
The Geocenter’s science editor, Eliza Jarl Estrup, is accompanying us. She has been diligently working on the UNESCO application since 2021, receiving expert assistance from a glacial tectonics specialist at the University of Copenhagen and collaborating with site owners, including the Danish Nature Agency and Klintholm Manor.
The application for Møns Klint covers the approximately 6-kilometer-long white coastal cliff and part of the underlying hilly landscape, which »represents an outstanding and exemplary case of glaciotectonic mountain formation«, as stated in the application.
While plate tectonics involve large continents colliding and folding mountains, glacial tectonics involve glaciers pushing the landscape upward. That’s what has happened here on Møn.
Møns Klint is one of the largest known and well-described glaciotectonic complexes in the world, and because the cliff profile constitutes a cross-section through this, you can get a unique view into the geological structures here.
»Landscapes across the northern hemisphere are shaped by ice age glaciers. If you want to understand how glaciers have folded up hills and landscapes, Møns Klint is the textbook example of this process. The cross-section through the hills also allows you to see how glaciers have worked the landscape by looking at the black flint layers that lie in all directions«, says Nils Natorp.
Crossing fingers
Down on the beach, he points up at the vertical cliff, so we can see the more or less horizontal dark stripes of flintstone wedged between the chalk, illustrating how the landscape has been folded.
Back in September last year, two representatives from UNESCO stood here too. A woman from Hungary and a woman from France, both experts in the management of geological heritage.
They visited for three days, and afterward, they sent a report that required the Geocenter to do some supplementary work by February this year. This has now been done, and they are awaiting a final response, which they expect to arrive by the end of May.
»All we can do is cross our fingers«, says Eliza Jarl Estrup.
»Of course, we believe Møns Klint deserves it. But do they think so in Paris? We can’t know«.
And Nils Natorp adds:
»I think it will succeed. You have to believe that when you’ve worked on it for so long. It will be a disappointment if we don’t get it, to put it bluntly«.
»We just have to be prepared for the fact that it’s not guaranteed. It’s like taking an exam. You think you’ve prepared well, but what does the examiner think?«, says Eliza Jarl Estrup.
Every year, approximately 250,000 people visit Møns Klint. In recent years, there has been a shift in visitors, with about 60 percent now coming from abroad.
This means that Geocenter Møns Klint no longer solely focuses on the story of Denmark being built on a foundation of chalk shaped by geological processes.
With the shift to international visitors, the story must encompass that the entire northern hemisphere has landscapes formed in this way. A World Heritage designation could attract even more guests, but it’s also crucial to avoid mass tourism, so UNESCO also plays a protective role, Nils Natorp explains.
»World Heritage status brings enhanced protection for Møns Klint, requiring us to consider and develop local communities and tourism in harmony with nature. This will be a very important task as the number of tourists is expected to rise in the coming years«, says Nils Natorp.
As we look up, we see a bird flying into a hole in the cliff high above. It’s the peregrine falcon, which, when hunting, is said to be the fastest animal on earth. It was eradicated in Denmark in 1972, but in 2001, it returned to the cliff, where it has favorable conditions to hunt from its nest.
The grand experiences don’t end there. As we walk further down the beach and climb another long staircase that leaves us breathless, we again spot something moving. This time, it’s not just one grass snake but two slithering through the forest floor. Wow.
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