iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa

Abstract

iSimangaliso Wetland Park stretches for 220 km along the eastern shore of South Africa, bathed by the Indian Ocean. It includes a wide range of pristine marine, coastal, wetland, estuarine, and terrestrial environments which are scenic and unmodified by people. The ongoing fluvial, marine, aeolian, and climatic processes in the site resulted in a variety of landforms, such as coral reefs, sandy beaches, coastal dunes, lake systems, swamps, wetlands, grasslands, forests, lakes, and savanna. The transitional geographic location between subtropical and tropical Africa has resulted in exceptional species diversity and speciation. Its vivid natural spectacles include nesting turtles and large aggregations of flamingos and other waterfowl. The site contains critical habitats for a range of species from Africa’s marine, wetland, and savanna environments.