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Rainforests of the Atsinanana
| Site number: | 1257 |
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| Type of site: | Natural Heritage in danger | |
| Date: | 60 mill.yrs.old | |
| Date of Inscription: | 2007 | |
| Location: | Africa, Madagascar, The eastern part of Madagascar | |
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| Description: | Consisting of six national parks, the Rainforests of the Atsinanana sit along the eastern part of the island. These relict forests are imperative for upholding the current ecological processes necessary for the continued existence of Madagascar's matchless biodiversity, which reveals the island's geological history. The island detached and fully separated from all other land masses over 60 million years ago, and thus has seen an isolated evolution of plant and animal life. The rainforests were initially inscribed for both their importance to ecological and biological processes, but the inscription also includes their significance in biodiversity and the threatened species they support. These forests are remarkable for their high rate of endemism at 80 to 90 percent for all groups, and their populations of fauna, especially primates. Many rare and threatened species reside in the site; 78 of Madagascar’s 123 non-flying mammals occur in this site, among them 72 that are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the site also holds at least 25 species of lemur. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. | |
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1257 | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |