List of World Heritage Sites in Gabon is located in Gabon
Lopé-Okanda
Ivindo
Location of World Heritage Sites in Gabon

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.[1] Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage.[2] Gabon accepted the convention on December 30, 1986, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list. As of 2023, there are two World Heritage Sites in Gabon.[3]

There are two sites listed in Gabon, one of which was inscribed for natural and the other one for both natural and cultural significance. There are also six sites on the tentative list.[3]

List of sites

Name Image Location Criteria Year Description
Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda Hills and a river Moyen-Ogooué Province, Ngounié Province, Ogooué-Ivindo Province, Ogooué-Lolo Province Mixed (iii) (iv) (ix) (x) 2007 The Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda demonstrates an unusual interface between dense and well-conserved tropical rainforest and relict savannah environments with a great diversity of species, including endangered large mammals, and habitats. The site illustrates ecological and biological processes in terms of species and habitat adaptation to post-glacial climatic changes. It contains evidence of the successive passages of different peoples who have left extensive and comparatively well-preserved remains of habitation around hilltops, caves and shelters, evidence of iron-working and a remarkable collection of some 1,800 petroglyphs (rock carvings). The property’s collection of Neolithic and Iron Age sites, together with the rock art found there, reflects a major migration route of Bantu and other peoples from West Africa along the River Ogooué valley to the north of the dense evergreen Congo forests and to central east and southern Africa, that has shaped the development of the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.[4]
Ivindo National Park A stream with a small waterfall in a tropical forest Ogooué-Ivindo Province, Ogooué-Lolo Province Natural (ix) (x) 2021 Situated on the equator in northern Gabon the largely pristine site encompasses an area of almost 300,000 ha crossed by a network of picturesque blackwater rivers. It features rapids and waterfalls bordered by intact rainforest, which make for a landscape of great aesthetic value. The site’s aquatic habitats harbour endemic freshwater fish species, 13 of which are threatened, and at least seven species of Podostemaceae riverweeds, with probable micro-endemic aquatic flora at each waterfall. Many fish species in the property are yet to be described and parts of the site have hardly been investigated. Critically Endangered Slender-snouted Crocodiles (Mecistops cataphractus) find shelter in Ivindo National Park which also boasts biogeographically unique Caesalpinioideae old-growth forests of high conservation value, supporting, for instance, a very high diversity of butterflies alongside threatened flagship mammals and avian fauna such as the Critically Endangered Forest Elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla), the Endangered Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) as well as the Vulnerable Grey-necked Rockfowl (Picathartes oreas), Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), Leopard (Panthera pardus), and African Golden Cat (Caracal aurata), and three species of Pangolin (Manidae spp.).[5]

Tentative List

Site Image Location Criteria Area
ha (acre)
 Year of submission Description
Moukalaba-Doudou National Park Ogooué-Maritime Province , 2°38′S 10°25′E / 2.63°S 10.42°E / -2.63; 10.42 (Moukalaba-Doudou National Park) Natural (vii) (ix) 2022 [6]
Lastoursville caves Ogooué-Lolo Province 0°49′00″S 12°42′00″E / 0.816667°S 12.7°E / -0.816667; 12.7 (Lastoursville caves) Mixed (iii) (vi) (vii) (viii) 2022 [7]
Moulendé fossil site and the Bangombé nuclear pile Haut Ogooue Province 0°49′00″S 12°42′00″E / 0.816667°S 12.7°E / -0.816667; 12.7 (Moulendé fossil site and the Bangombé nuclear pile) Natural (vii) 2022 [8]
Birougou Mountains National Park Ngounié Province, Ogooué-Lolo Province 1°46′00″S 12°16′00″E / 1.766667°S 12.266667°E / -1.766667; 12.266667 (Birougou Mountains National Park) Natural (ix) (x) 2022 [9]
Batéké Plateau National Park Haut-Ogooué Province 2°11′17″S 14°01′12″E / 2.188°S 14.02°E / -2.188; 14.02 (Batéké Plateau National Park) Mixed (v) (vii) (viii) 2022 [10]
Loango National Park Ogooué-Maritime Province 2°10′00″S 9°34′00″E / 2.166667°S 9.566667°E / -2.166667; 9.566667 (Loango National Park) Natural (vii) (x) 2022 [11]

References

  1. ^ "The World Heritage Convention". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Gabon". UNESCO. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO) license.
  5. ^ "Ivindo National Park". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO) license.
  6. ^ "Moukalaba-Doudou National Park". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  7. ^ "Lastoursville caves". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  8. ^ "Moulendé fossil site and the Bangombé nuclear pile". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  9. ^ "Lastoursville caves". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  10. ^ "Batéké Plateau National Park". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  11. ^ "Loango National Park". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
Categories