World Heritage Identification Number: 1616
World Heritage since: 2021
Category: Natural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇬🇪 Georgia
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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A Biodiversity Haven: The Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands
The Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021, is a testament to the rich biodiversity found along the eastern coast of the Black Sea in Georgia. This extensive property, spanning over 80 kilometers, encompasses seven distinct components, each showcasing a variety of Colchic ecosystems, ranging from sea level to elevations exceeding 2,500 meters.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The property comprises seven component parts, within an 80km long corridor along the warm-temperate and extremely humid eastern coast of the Black Sea. They provide a series of the most typical Colchic ecosystems at altitudes ranging from sea level to more than 2,500 metres above it. The main ecosystems are ancient deciduous Colchic rainforests and wetlands, percolation bogs and other mire types of the distinct Colchic mire region. The extremely humid broad-leaved rainforests comprise a highly diverse flora and fauna, with very high densities of endemic and relict species, with significant numbers of globally threatened species and relict species, which survived the glacial cycles of the Tertiary. The site is home to approximately 1,100 species of vascular and non-vascular plants, including 44 threatened vascular plan species, and almost 500 species of vertebrates, and a high number of invertebrate species. The site also harbours 19 threatened animal species including sturgeon, notably the critically endangered Colchic Sturgeon. It is a key stopover for many globally threatened birds that migrate through the Batumi bottleneck.
Encyclopedia Record: Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands
The Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Georgia, which comprises parts of the Colchis Lowland along some 80 km (50 mi) of western Georgia's Black Sea coastline. It was inscribed by UNESCO on 26 July 2021, becoming the first site in Georgia to be added to the list for its natural attributes. The site contains a wide array of ancient rainforest and wetland ecosystems, harboring many threatened and endangered species.Additional Site Details
Area: 31,253 hectares
(x) — Contains most important habitats for biodiversity
Coordinates: 41.7022777778 , 41.9512
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© Paata vardanashvili, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
