Brief Description
"Rock Islands Southern Lagoon covers 100,200 ha
and includes 445 uninhabited limestone islands of volcanic origin. Many
of them display unique mushroom-like shapes in turquoise lagoons
surrounded by coral reefs. The aesthetic beauty of the site is
heightened by a complex reef system featuring over 385 coral species and
different types of habitat. They sustain a large diversity of plants,
birds and marine life including dugong and at least thirteen shark
species. The site harbours the highest concentration of marine lakes
anywhere, isolated bodies of seawater separated from the ocean by land
barriers. They are among the islands’ distinctive features and sustain
high endemism of populations which continue to yield new species
discoveries. The remains of stonework villages, as well as burial sites
and rock art, bear testimony to the organization of small island
communities over some three millennia. The abandonment of the villages
in the 17th and 18th
centuries illustrates the consequences of climate change, population
growth and subsistence behaviour on a society living in a marginal
marine environment."
Source UNESCO WH website http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1386
Courtesy of rita_simões from Portugal
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