iSimangaliso Wetland Park

#iSimangaliso Wetland Park The 2750 square kilometer iSimangaliso Wetland Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. It stretches 220 km from the Mozambican border with northern KwaZulu-Natal, near Ponta do Ouro, to Cape St. Lucia in the south. The Park also incorporates a marine reserve along 155 km of coastline extending 5 km into the ocean.

The Park comprises of the last remaining subtropical region on the southeastern coast of Africa with its original diverse fauna and flora mostly still intact, and one of the last remaining in the world. The main feature of the Park is the huge 360 square kilometer Lake St. Lucia.

A unique feature of the Park is that it encompasses five distinctly different eco-systems, they are: (1) A marine system characterized by warm waters, (2) The southernmost extension of coral reefs in Africa, submarine canyons, and long sandy beaches; a coastal dune system consisting of high linear dunes, sub-tropical forests, grassy plains and wetlands; (3) Lake systems including two estuary-linked lakes, St Lucia and Kosi, and four large freshwater lakes, Sibaya, Ngobezeleni, Bhangazi north and Bhangazi south; (4) The Mkuze and Umfolozi swamps, with swamp forests, extensive reeds and papyrus swamps; and (5) An inland system, which includes ancient shoreline, terraces and dry savannah woodlands.