Black River Gorges National Park
Coordinates: 20 ° 25 ′ S , 57 ° 25 ′ E
Black River Gorges National Park is the largest of the three national parks in Mauritius . The others are the Parc national de Bras d'Eau and Islets National Park . Its size is about 6,574 hectares , which is about 3.5% of the island's area. It is listed on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The national park was established on June 15, 1994.
geography
The national park is located in the southwest of the island. In the park is the highest mountain on the island, the 828 meters high, eponymous Piton de la Rivière Noire . Rivière Noire is the French, Black river the English word for "Black River". The river Rivière Noire has its source in the national park and flows into the Indian Ocean in Grand Rivière Noire . The Black River District is also named after the river. The national park is partly in the Black River district, but also in Plaines Wilhems and Savanne .
Flora and fauna
As part of the settlement of the island, the original rainforests were largely cleared. The last larger contiguous forests can be found in the mountain landscape of the national park. 163 of the 311 endemic plant species and all 28 surviving endemic birds of Mauritius are found here. These include the Mauritius Falke , the pink pigeon , the Mauritius parakeet , the Mauritius tracked catcher who Mauritiusbülbül ( Hypsipetes olivaceus ), the Mauritius olive white-eye , of Mauritius Weber and others.
tourism
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The national park is one of the main tourist attractions on the island and has more than 250,000 visitors annually. It is made accessible by several tourist information centers and 60 km of hiking trails. In addition to fauna and flora, waterfalls like the Alexandra Falls are attractions.
swell
- Tentative list of Mauritius. In: whc.unesco.org. UNESCO World Heritage Center, accessed August 13, 2017 .
- Matina Miethig: ADAC travel guide Mauritius and Rodrigues, ISBN 978-3-95689-045-1 , 2014, pp. 87–91.
