Italian municipalities of Monfalcone, Duino-Aurisina, Buie and Slovenia's municipality of Postojna expect to present their proposition in Belgium's Brussels in the beginning of October, Dolores Dolenc of the municipality of Postojna has told the STA.

The reasons for a joint candidacy lay in several common features of the Slovenian and Italian karst regions, especially their natural origins as well as historical landmarks, such as necropolises from the Bronze and Iron Age and WWI trenches.

Materials and remains of high historical and archaeological value can be found across the whole region.

In Duino-Aurisina, for example, the oldest dinosaur remains in Europe have been found, making it one of the most important archaeological sites.

In addition, the Kras region comprises over 200 underground caves, among which is also Slovenia's Postojna Cave, extending on more than 21 kilometres of underground passageways.

Between 1915 and 1917, the region was a battlefield for thousands of men fighting on the Isonzo Front during WWI. Several kilometres of trenches, military infrastructure and roads had been built in the area.

Today, many open-air museums in the area bear record of the bloody scenes that took place during the war.

Saturday's presentation in Monfalcone marked the beginning of the procedure to get Slovenian and Italian karst region on the UNESCO list, Dolanc said and added that it would take three to five years to conclude the candidacy process.

The Slovenian national commission for UNESCO already announced a similar international candidacy two years ago, with Italy, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, the secretary general of the Slovenian national commission for UNESCO Marjutka Hafner told the STA.

The candidacy, which proposes the Dinaric karst to be included on UNESCO's list, is still in its preparatory stage, Hafner said.

On the other hand, the Slovenian national commission for UNESCO has not yet been informed about the latest candidacy, Hafner added, while explaining that all official procedures concerning the UNESCO list are being processed by state institutions.

Currently, beech forests and Jože Plečnik's architectural works are among the propositions to launch nomination procedures for UNESCO World Heritage List, Hafner also added.