World Heritage Identification Number: 1317
World Heritage since: 2010
Category: Natural Heritage
WHE Type: Protected Areas & National Parks
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇫🇷 France
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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Exploring the Natural Wonders of the Pitons, Cirques, and Remplarts of Reunion Island
The Pitons, Cirques, and Remplarts of Reunion Island, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, offers a breathtaking display of nature's grandeur and diversity. Situated in the southwestern Indian Ocean, this French overseas department boasts a unique landscape that captivates visitors with its rugged terrain, towering volcanic peaks, and diverse ecosystems.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
The Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island site coincides with the core zone of La Réunion National Park. The property covers more than 100,000 ha or 40 % of La Réunion, an island comprising two adjoining volcanic massifs located in the south-west of the Indian Ocean. Dominated by two towering volcanic peaks, massive walls and three cliff-rimmed cirques, the property includes a great variety of rugged terrain and impressive escarpments, forested gorges and basins creating a visually striking landscape. It is the natural habitat for a wide diversity of plants, presenting a high level of endemism. There are subtropical rainforests, cloud forests and heaths creating a remarkable and visually appealing mosaic of ecosystems and landscape features.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (vii): The combination of volcanism, tectonic landslide events, heavy rainfall and stream erosion have formed a rugged and dramatic landscape of striking beauty, dominated by two towering volcanoes, the dormant Piton de Neiges and the highly active Piton de la Fournaise. Other major landscape features include Remparts - steep rock walls of varying geological age and character, and so-called cirques, which can be described as massive natural amphitheatres with an imposing height and verticality. There are deep, partly forested gorges and escarpments, with subtropical rainforests, cloud forests and heaths creating a remarkable and visually appealing mosaic of ecosystems and landscape features.
Criterion (x): The property is a global centre of plant diversity with a high degree of endemism. It contains the most significant remaining natural habitats for the conservation of the terrestrial biodiversity of the Mascarene Islands, including a range of rare forest types. Given the major and partly irreversible human impacts on the environment in the Mascarene archipelago, the property serves as the last refuge for the survival of a large number of endemic, threatened and endangered species.
Encyclopedia Record: Réunion National Park
Réunion National Park is a National Park of France located on the island of Réunion, an overseas department in the western Indian Ocean. Established on 5 March 2007, the park protects the endemic ecosystems of Les Hauts, Réunion's mountainous interior, and covers around 42% of the island. Notable endemic species include the Réunion cuckooshrike and the Reunion Island day gecko.Additional Site Details
Area: 105,838 hectares
Number of Components: 1
(x) — Contains most important habitats for biodiversity
Coordinates: -21.0994444444 , 55.48
IUCN World Heritage Outlook
The 2025 Conservation Outlook on Pitons, cirques and remparts of Reunion Island reports the following assessment:
Source: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) · View assessment
Image
© Geolina, CC BY-SA 4.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
