WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN AFRICA

BY GODWIN EIGBE

Africa with it's peculiar history has many relics of its glorious and bitter past.

From Cape Flora in South Africa through the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt to the Medina of Tunis, Tunisia and the Forts and Castles of Ghana, Africa has 112 World Heritage Sites. However the vast continent has lots more to offer.

Africa is known to be the centre of ancient civilization and is blessed with monumental arts and landscape designs that bear testimonies to its cultural traditions and civilization of which some are still living. According to Dr. Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, many of Africa’s monuments have not been discovered and those found are not being taken care of. “We have found only about 30 percent of Egyptian monuments…70 percent of them still lie buried underneath the ground. You never know what the sand will hide in the way of secrets,” he said. Besides Egypt, names like Ethiopia, Mali, Zulu, and many others have been for a long time and have so much artifacts and monuments to tell their story.

The continent is not less in natural endowments. Wildlife sanctuaries like those found in Congo, abound across the land. As the world moves to conserve species and prevent the extinction of those currently threatened, Africa is for sure one direction that can not be over looked. From the coasts through the hinterland, Africa is blessed with natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity. Many of these contain threatened species of outstanding universal value. The Cross River National Park in Nigeria is one of such natural properties that deserve the status of a World Heritage Site. The Park is a bio-diversity hot spot and is home to the Cross River Gorilla, Chimpanzee and 17 other primates. Also present within its rich flora content are highly medicinal plants endemic to the forest.

Africa has a wide spread of tourist attractions from golden/white sand beaches, great water falls to cultural festivals and monuments.

 

WORLD HERITAGE SITES IN AFRICA 2009

ALGERIA

1. Al Qal’a of Beni Hammad
2. Tassili n’Ajjer
3. M’Zab Valley
4. Djemila
5. Tipasa
6. Timgad
7. Kasbah of Algiers

BENIN

1. Royal Palaces of Abomey

BOTSWANA

1. Tsodilo

CAMAROON

1. Dja Faunal Reserve

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

1. Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park

COTE D’IVOIRE

1. Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve *
2. Tai National Park
3. Comoe National Park

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

1. Virunga National Park
2. Garamba National Park
3. Kahuzi- Biege National Park
4. Salonga National Park
5. Okapi Wildlife Reserve

EGYPT

1. Memphis and its Necropolis
2. Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis
3. Nubian Monument (Abu Simbel)
4. Islamic Cairo
5. Abu Mena
6. Saint Catherine Area
7. Wadi Al-Hitan

ETHIOPIA

1. Semien mountains National Park
2. Rock-hewn Churches, Lalibela
3. Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region
4. Lower Valley of the Awash River
5. Tiya
6. Aksum
7. Lower Valley of the Omo
8. Harar Jugol, the Fortified Historic Town

GABON

1. Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda

GAMBIA

1. James Island and Related Sites
2. Stone Circles of Senegambia *

GHANA

1. Asante Traditional Buildings
2. Forts and Castles

GUINEA

1. Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve *

KENYA

1. Mount Kenya National Park
2. Leka Turkana National Park
3. Lamu Old Town
4. Sacred Mijikenda Kaya Forests

LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA

1. Archaeological Site of Leptis Magna
2. Archaeological Site of Sabratha
3. Archaeological Site of Cyrene
4. Rock-art Sites of Tadrart Acacus
5. Old Town of Ghadames

MADAGASCAR

1. Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve
2. The Royal Hill of Ambohimanga
3. Rainforests of the Atsinanana

MALAWI

1. Lake Malawi
2. Chongoni Rock-Art Area

MALI

1. Old Towns of Djenne
2. Timbuktu
3. Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)
4. Tomb of Askia

MAURITANIA

1. Banc d’Arguin National Park
2. Ancient Ksours

MOROCCO

1. Medina of Fez
2. Medina of Marrakesh
3. Ksar of Ait-Ben- Haddou
4. Historic City of Meknes
5. Archaeologies Site of Volubillis
6. Medina of Tetouan (formerly Titawin)
7. Medina of Essaouira (Ancient Mogador)
8. Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida)

MOZAMBIQUE

1. Island of Mozambique

NIGER

1. Air and Tenere Natural Reserves
2. W National Park.

NIGERIA

1. Sukur Cultural Landscape
2. Osun- Osogbo Sacred Grove

SENEGAL

1. Island of Goree
2. Niokolo-Koba National Park
3. Djoudji National Bird Sanctuary
4. Island of Saint-Louis
5. Stone Circles of Senegambia *

SEYCHELLES

1. Aldabra Atoll
2. Vallee de Mai Nature Reserve

SOUTH AFRICA

1. The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park
2. Robben Island
3. Fossil hominid sites of Sterkfontein
4. Drakensberg  Park
5. Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
6. Cape Flora Region Protected Areas
7. Vredefort Dome.
8. Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape

SUDAN

1. Gebel Barkal and Sites

TANZANIA

1. Ngorongoro Conservation Area
2. Ruins of Kisiwani and Songo Mnara
3. Serengeti National Park
4. Selous Game Reserve
5. Kilimanjaro National Park
6. Stone Town, Zanzibar
7. Kondoa Rock-Art Sites

TOGO

1. Koutammakou, Land of the Batammariba

TUNISIA

1. Medina of Tunis
2. Site of Carthage
3. Amphitheatre of El Jem
4. Ichkeul National Park
5. Punic Town of kerkuane and its Necropolis
6. Medina of Sousse
7. Kairouan
8. Dougga/Thugga

UGANDA

1.      Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

2.                  Ruwenzori Mountains National Park

3.                  Tombs of Buganda Kings at Kasubi

ZAMBIA

1. Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls  *

ZIMBABWE

1.      Mana Pools National Park, Sapi and Chewore Safari Areas

2.      Great Zimbabwe National Monument

3.      Khami Ruins National Monument

4.      Matobo Hills

 

*Trans-boundary Properties

 THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN EXECUTIVE TRAVELS NIGERIA MAGAZINE, ISSUE NO. 19, 2010 AS EDITED BY GODWIN EIGBE