Decision 25 COM X.A

Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves (Brazil)

Property: Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves

Id. N°: 1000 Rev

State Party: Brazil

Criteria: N (ii) (iii) (iv)

The Committee inscribed the Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves on the World Heritage List on the basis of criterion (ii), (iii) and (iv):

Criterion (ii): Fernando de Noronha / Rocas Atoll represents over half the insular coastal waters of the Southern Atlantic Ocean. These highly productive waters provide feeding ground for species such as tuna, billfish, cetaceans, sharks, and marine turtles as they migrate to the Eastern Atlantic coast of Africa. An oasis of marine life in relatively barren, open ocean, the islands play a key role in the process of reproduction, dispersal and colonisation by marine organisms in the entire Tropical South Atlantic.

Criterion (iii): Baía dos Golfinhos is the only known place in the world with such a high population of resident dolphins and Rocas Atoll demonstrates a spectacular seascape at low tide when the exposed reef surrounding shallow lagoons and tidal pools forms a natural aquarium. Both sites have also exceptional submarine landscapes that have been recognised worldwide by a number of specialised diving literatures.

Criterion (iv): Fernando de Noronha / Rocas Atoll is a key site for the protection of biodiversity and endangered species in the Southern Atlantic. Providing a large proportion of the insular habitat of the South Atlantic, the site is a repository for the maintenance of marine biodiversity at the ocean basin level. It is important for the conservation of endangered and threatened species of marine turtles, particularly the hawksbill turtle. The site accommodates the largest concentration of tropical seabirds to be found in the Western Atlantic Ocean, and is a Global Centre of Bird Endemism.

The site also contains the only remaining sample of the Insular Atlantic Forest and the only oceanic mangrove in the South Atlantic region. The site consists of the Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas, a reef approximately 150 km to the west of the Archipelago.