Abstract
This chapter aims to illustrate the multiple and bidirectional relationships between heritage studies and environmental law. The link between environmental problems and the concept of heritage is already present in the work of Lowenthal, one of the founding figures of heritage studies. Reading heritage studies in light of environmental problems is nowadays particularly topical because current environmental crises, such as the increasingly more evident effects of global warming and the loss of biodiversity, risk compromising in a serious way the integrity of protected heritage. In a complementary way, preserving heritage may play a fundamental role in supporting conservation and increased resilience
against environmental degradation. While the factual relationship between heritage and the environment has been addressed in the
literature, at least partially, it is less so for the interface between heritage studies and environmental law. Indeed, analysing how environmental law influences the protection of heritage may shed light on both the hidden power imbalances characterizing the regulation of heritage, especially when it relates to the natural environment, and, more generally, the common theoretical foundations underlying the two regimes. Furthermore, environmental governance may suggest avenues for reforming heritage law. While heritage law is sometimes treated as a sub-branch of environmental law, this chapter will help highlight both the distinguishing features of the two regimes and their potential overlaps.