Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems

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Lagoons of New Caledonia: A Coral Paradise of Exceptional Natural Beauty

The Lagoons of New Caledonia, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, present a breathtaking underwater panorama that showcases the rich biodiversity and unique ecosystems found within this French Pacific Ocean archipelago. Comprising six marine clusters, these lagoons represent the primary diversity of coral reefs and associated ecosystems in New Caledonia, making it one of the three most extensive reef systems globally.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

This serial site comprises six marine clusters that represent the main diversity of coral reefs and associated ecosystems in the French Pacific Ocean archipelago of New Caledonia and one of the three most extensive reef systems in the world. These Lagoons are of exceptional natural beauty. They feature an exceptional diversity of coral and fish species and a continuum of habitats from mangroves to seagrasses with the world’s most diverse concentration of reef structures. The Lagoons of New Caledonia display intact ecosystems, with healthy populations of large predators, and a great number and diversity of big fish. They provide habitat to a number of emblematic or threatened marine species such as turtles, whales or dugongs whose population here is the third largest in the world.

Encyclopedia Record: New Caledonian barrier reef

The New Caledonian barrier reef is a barrier reef located in New Caledonia in the South Pacific, being the longest continuous barrier reef in the world and the third largest after the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

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