• TROPICAL & SUB-TROPICAL FORESTS

Tropical and sub-tropical forests cover about 16% of the world’s land area and are the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems supporting an estimated 50% of the world’s species.  So it is appropriate that the number of sites in this category is higher than others. Natural world heritage sites have been inscribed from all the major tropical rainforest areas including the Amazon Basin (with sites in Brazil, Bolivia and Peru), the Congo Basin (with sites in D.R. Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Gabon) and the rainforests of South-East Asia (with sites in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and southern China).  In addition many sites have been inscribed in places where rainforests cover relatively constrained areas, such as the islands of Sri Lanka, Madagascar and the Philippines; the narrow isthmus of central America (including sites in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia); the coastal regions of India’s Western Ghats, Brazil’s Atlantic coast, the ‘Upper Guinea’ forests of West Africa and Australia’s Queensland; and a few more isolated montane areas in Uganda and Mexico.

‘To learn more about these spectacular places click on the links of featured sites in the table, or the photo tiles below. Note that some site pages are still under development so the links for these places are not yet active.’

Iconic Species:  Amongst the iconic species that characterise rainforest environments are our closest relatives – the chimpanzee and bonobo – as well as gorillas, orang-utans and a multitude of monkeys, lemurs and antelopes that are specially adapted to rainforest habitats.  Forest elephants (in Africa and Asia) are much smaller than their savanna-dwelling cousins in Africa, but no less important as habitat engineers – dispersing rainforest trees over vast distances and maintaining swampy forest clearings (‘Baias’) as saltlicks and playgrounds for the wider forest ‘community’ of animals.

Missing Links: Tropical and sub-tropical forests are relatively well represented on the world heritage list, with some recent additions filling significant earlier gaps.  Nevertheless, some highly distinctive forests such as the ‘Eastern Arc Mountains’ in Tanzania, the East African coastal forests, the Korup/Cross River forest complex in Cameroon and Nigeria, as well as forest areas in Laos, Myanmar, peninsula Malaysia, the Andaman Islands, and more of the Indonesian island rainforests are all worthy of consideration.

Sites by country

COUNTRY SITE
Argentina Iguazu National Park
Australia Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
Australia Wet Tropics of Queensland
Bolivia Noel Kempff Mercado National Park
Brazil Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves
Brazil Central Amazon Conservation Complex
Brazil Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves
Brazil Paraty and Ilha Grande – Culture and Biodiversity
Brazil Iguaçu National Park
Cameroon Dja Faunal Reserve
Cameroon, CAR & Congo Sangha Trinational
China Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
China Mount Wuyi
Colombia Chiribiquete National Park – ‘The Maloca of the Jaguar’
Colombia Los Katíos National Park
Costa Rica Area de Conservacion Guanacaste
Costa Rica, Panama Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park
Côte d’Ivoire Taï National Park
DR Congo Kahuzi-Biega National Park
DR Congo Virunga National Park
DR Congo Okapi Wildlife Reserve
DR Congo Salonga National Park
Gabon Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda (M)
Guatemala Tikal National Park (M)
Honduras Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve
India Western Ghats
Indonesia Lorentz National Park
Indonesia Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra *
Indonesia Ujung Kulon National Park
Madagascar Rainforests of the Atsinanana
Mexico Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of  Calakmul, Campeche (M)
Mexico Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
Mexico Sian Ka’an
Panama Darien National Park
Peru Manú National Park
Philippines Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park
Sri Lanka Central Highlands of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Suriname Central Suriname Nature Reserve
Thailand Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex
Thailand Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries
Uganda Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Venezuela Canaima National Park
Viet Nam Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park

FEATURED SITES IN THIS CATEGORY

Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul, Campeche

MEXICO

Area de Conservacion Guanacaste

COSTA RICA

Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves

BRAZIL

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

UGANDA

Canaima National Park

VENEZUELA

Central Amazon Conservation Complex

BRAZIL

Central Highlands of Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA

Central Suriname Nature Reserve

SURINAME

Chiribiquete National Park – ‘The Maloca of the Jaguar’

COLOMBIA

Darien National Park

PANAMA

Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves

BRAZIL

Dja Faunal Reserve

CAMEROON

Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex

THAILAND

Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda

GABON

Gondwana Rainforests of Australia

AUSTRALIA

Iguacu National Park

BRAZIL

Iguazu National Park

ARGENTINA

Kahuzi-Biega National Park

DR CONGO

Lorentz National Park

INDONESIA

Los Katios National Park

COLOMBIA

Manú National Park

PERU

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

MEXICO

Mount Wuyi

CHINA

Noel Kempff Mercado National Park

BOLIVIA

Okapi Wildlife Reserve

DR CONGO

Paraty and Ilha Grande – Culture and Biodiversity

BRAZIL

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park

VIETNAM

Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park

PHILIPPINES

Rainforests of the Atsinanana

MADAGASCAR

Río Abiseo National Park

PERU

Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve

HONDURAS

Salonga National Park

DR CONGO

Sangha Trinational

CAR-CAMEROON-CONGO

Sian Ka’an

MEXICO

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

SRI LANKA

Taï National Park

COTE D'IVOIRE

Talamanca Range – La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park

COSTA RICA & PANAMA

Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas

CHINA

Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries

THAILAND

Tikal National Park

GUATEMALA

Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra

INDONESIA

Ujung Kulon National Park

INDONESIA

Virunga National Park

DR CONGO

Western Ghats

INDIA

Wet Tropics of Queensland

AUSTRALIA