There may well be 3 WHS containing "Mud Volcanoes" but I am not sure that Gobustan is one of them.
We visited Gobustan in summer of 2000 - long before it became a WHS in 2007. The mud volcanoes are quite a long way from the rock art sites. I remember quite a drive from the single rock art site we visited, past the "furthest east Roman inscription" stone which appears in Wiki and down towards the coast. We were not shown any "Mud volcanoes" adjacent to the rock art site we visited.
I have tried to work out exactly what the boundaries of the inscribed area might be in relation to the mud volcanoes - there is a map in the Nomination file which shows the inscribed areas as 3 separate locations within the Park. All are related to small mountains with cliffs where the rock art is carved and are very limited in size.
"It lies within the Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve and is made of three rock art sites, namely Jinghirdagh mountain-Yazylytepe hill, Boyukdash mountain and Kichikdash mountain, forming a Serial Nomination. All together the three sites cover an area of 537,22 hectares within a proposed Buffer Zone of 3096.34 hectares, totalling an area of 3633.56 hectares"The only references to the mud volcanoes are these 2
a. "
A peculiar feature of the landscape are three flat-topped hills, named Boyukdash, Kichikdash and Jinghirdagh mountains, covered by large calcareous blocks (Absheron limestone), which were detached from the upper levels when the lower softer levels eroded. These mountains stand by separate elevations among the mud volcanoes, called by the local population "Pil-pile"b.
"A muddy-hill relief is developed in the area of the reserve, where mud volcanoes are of a great significance. Mud volcanoes can be huge and high, like the Turagay (407 m. on the sea level), but also small as the group of mud volcanoes on the south of the reserve. These volcanoes despite the fact that are outside (pratically on the border) with the Reserve are very visited by tourists, being one of the most interesting attraction of the area."This doesn't provide clear evidence either way but I think we can safely say that the boundaries of the inscribed site were constructed WITHIN the larger reserve area to showcase/preserve the rock art and not the mud volcanoes. But that still leaves the possibility that the inscribed boundary includes (at least some of) the mud volcanoes.
I found this on the Web which describes a drive which includes both the mud volcanoes AND the Petrolglyphs
"This trip is driving from the Gobustan Mud Volcanos to the top of the Gobustan hill above the petroglyphs. It would also be a good hike. Driving south from Baku, turn right off the highway in Gobustan at the big rock sign to the petroglyphs.
Drive up to the right and over the overpass across the rail line. Then left at the T junction to drive south to the mud volcanoes.
After wandering around the mud volcanoes, you can return and drive to the visitors centre to see the rock carvings. If you follow my track up to the top of the ridge, there are some fantastic views out to the Caspian and to the west"http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=70269If you compare this map with the one in the nomination file (which, unfortunately is not very clear and doesn't include a scale) I am pretty sure that the location of the rock carvings visited by this guy is on the ridge in the centre of the Nomination file map.. This is the main visited Rock Art site of the 3, contains the museum/visitors centre - and was the one we visited in 2000. The nomination file map shows another inscribed area south of this (as well as one further north) but I believe, from the road systems shown on both maps, that this southern inscribed area of rock art is on a hill which is still north of the mud volcanoes.
Dopes anyone have alternative information?