Coastal World Heritage Sites

This book presents the natural, environmental and scenic richness of the world’s coastal and marine areas classified by UNESCO as “Natural World Heritage Sites”. Representing well-preserved areas of exceptional significance to the planet and to humankind, they include a total of 49 marine sites, formed by reefs, atolls and gulfs, and 35 coastal sites in all oceans and all continents with exception of Antarctica. They are being protected and preserved from most degrading uses for future generations as an important legacy from the past. Exploring their richness, this book analyzes and explains these sites in a clear, understandable, scientific way, and is of interest to all who work in or care about the geosciences, environmental sciences and biosciences.

Part I. World heritage on continental coasts. – Africa.- 1. Banc D´Arguin National Park, Mauritania.- 2. Nambid Sand Sea, Namibia.- 3. Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, Senegal.- 4. Cape Floral Region Protected Areas, South Africa.- 5. iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa.- Asia.- 6. The Sandarbans, Bangladesh and India.- 7. Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park, the Philippines.- Central America.- 8. área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.- 9. Rio Plátano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras.- 10. Darien National Park, Panama.- Europe.- 11. Stevens Klint, Denmark.- 12. High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago, Finland and Sweden.- 13. West Norwegian Fjords - Geiran-Gerfjord and Nærøyfjord, Norway.- 14. Danube Delta, Romania.- 15. Donãna National Park, Spain.- North America.- 16. Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Canada.- 17. Miguasha Natural Park, Canada.- 18. Mistaken Point, Canada.-  19. Kluane/Wrangell-St Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek, Canada and United States of America.- 20. Sian Ka’an, Mexico.- 21. Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino, Mexico.- 22. Everglades National Park, United States of America.- 23. Olympic National Park, United States of America.- 24. Redwood National and State Parks, United States of America.- Oceania.- 25. Kakadu National Park, Australia.- 26. Ningaloo Coast, Australia.- 27. Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia.- South America.- 28. Península Valdés, Argentina.- 29. Atlantic Forest Southeast Reserves, Brazil.- 30. Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves, Brazil.- Part II .- World coastal heritage in islands, gulfs and reefs.- Arctic Ocean.- 31. Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve, Russia.- Atlantic Ocean.- 32. Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas, Brazil .- 33. Gros Morne National Park, Canada.- 34. Ilulissat Icefjord, Denmark.-  35. Surtsey, Iceland.- 36. Laurisilva of Madeira, Portugal.- 37. Gough and Inaccessible Islands, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.- 38. Saint Kilda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.- Indian Ocean.- 39. Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles.- 40. Socotra Archipelago, Yemen.- Pacific Ocean.- 41. Fraser Islands, Australia.- 42. Great Barrier Reefs, Australia.- 43. Lord Howe Island Group, Australia.-  44. Shark Bay, Australia.- 45. Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia.- 46. Malpelo Fauna and Flora Park, Colombia.- 47. Cocos Island National Park, Costa Rica.- 48. Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.- 49. Lagoons of New Caledonia, France .- 50. Ogasawara Islands, Japan.- 51. Shiretoko, Japan.- 52. Phoenix Islands, Kiribati.- 53. Archipiélago de Revillagigedo, Mexico.- 54. Islands and Protected Areas of Gulf of California, Mexico.- 55. Te Wahipounamu South-West, New Zealand.- 56. Rock Island Southern Lagoon, Palau .- 57. Coiba National Park and the Zone of Marine Protection, Panama.- 58. Volcanoes of Kamchatka, Russia.- 59. East Rennel, Solomon Island.- 60. Henderson Islands, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.- 61. HawaiiVolcanoes National Park, United States of America.- 62. Papahanaumokuakea, United States of America.- Southern Ocean.- 63. Heard and McDonald Islands, Australia.- 64. Macquarie Island, Australia.- 65. New Zealand Sub-antarctic Islands, New Zealand.-  Caribbean Sea.- 66. Belize Barrier Reef System, Belize.- 67. Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, Cuba.- 68. Desembargo del Granma National Park, Cuba.- 69. Pitons Management Area, Saint Lucia .- China Sea.- 70. Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.- 71. Yakushima, Japan.- 72. Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tube, Korea.- Mediterranean Sea.- 73. Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola, France.- 74. The Aeolian Islands, Italy.- 75. Ibiza, Spain .- North Sea.- 76. The Wadden Sea, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany .- 77. Dorset and East Devon Coast, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .- 78. Giants Causeway and Causeway Coast, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .- Red Sea.- 79. Sanganeb Marine National Park and Dungonab Bay - Mukkawar Island.- Marine  National Park, Sudan.- East Indian Archipelago.- 80. Komodo National Park, Indonesia.-  81. Lorentz National Park, Indonesia.- 82. Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra, Indonesia.- 83. Ujung Kulan National Park, Indonesia.- 84. Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Philippines

Vanda Claudino-Sales is a geographer who holds a PhD in Environmental Geography from the Sorbonne University, Paris, and a post-doctorate in Coastal Geomorphology from the University of South Florida, USA. She is a retired professor of the Department of Geography of the Federal University of Ceara and a visiting professor at the Department of Geography of the State University of Acarau Valley, in Brazil. She was a visiting professor at the Department of Geography at the Sorbonne and at the Coastal Laboratory of the University of South Florida. She is Vice-President for South America of the Coastal and Educational Research Foundation – CERF. She also participates in environmental activism in Brazil. Her research focuses on geoscience, coastal geomorphology, megageomorphology and geoconservation.