World Heritage Identification Number: 1147
World Heritage since: 2007
Category: Mixed Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇬🇦 Gabon
Continent: Africa
UNESCO World Region: Africa
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Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda: A Unique Interface Between Nature and Culture
The Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, offers a captivating blend of natural beauty and cultural heritage. Situated in central Gabon, this unique property spans an area of approximately 4,912 square miles (1,897 square kilometers), bordered by the Ogooué River to the north and the Chaillu Massif to the south.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
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.
Encyclopedia Record: Lopé National Park
Lopé National Park is a national park in central Gabon. Bordered by the Ogooué River to the north and the Chaillu Massif to the south, the park has an area of 4,912 km2 (1,897 sq mi).Additional Site Details
Area: 511,991 hectares
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
(ix) — Outstanding example representing ecological and biological processes
(x) — Contains most important habitats for biodiversity
Coordinates: -0.5 , 11.5
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