Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
The property is located in northeastern Brazil, on the east coast of Maranhão, in a transition zone between three Brazilian biomes: Cerrado, Caatinga and Amazon. More than half of its area consists of a white coastal dune field with temporary and permanent lagoons. Beyond its important role in biodiversity conservation, the park boasts globally significant aesthetic and geological/geomorphological values. Along an 80 km coastline, with beaches followed by plains, the prevailing winds shape the dunes into long chains of barchans, filled in the rainy season to create lagoons of various colours, shapes, sizes and depths. The property reveals its best scenery when the lagoons reach their maximum volume, creating rare beauty. The vast expanse of both stable and shifting dunes, the largest in South America, presents remarkable evidence of the evolutionary progression of coastal dunes throughout the Quaternary period.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Parc national de Lençóis Maranhenses
Le bien se trouve dans le nord-est du Brésil, sur la côte est du Maranhão, dans une zone de transition entre trois biomes brésiliens : Le Cerrado, la Caatinga et l’Amazone. Plus de la moitié de sa superficie se compose d’un champ de dunes côtières de sable blanc et de lagunes temporaires et permanentes. Outre son rôle important dans la conservation de la biodiversité, le parc est doté de valeurs esthétiques et géologiques/géomorphologiques importantes à l’échelle mondiale. Le long d’un littoral de 80 km, avec des plages suivies de plaines, les vents dominants donnent aux dunes la forme de longues chaînes de barkhanes alimentées en saison des pluies pour créer des lagunes temporaires de diverses couleurs, formes, tailles et profondeurs. Le bien offre ses plus beaux paysages lorsque les lagunes atteignent leur volume maximum, se parant d’une beauté rare. Les vastes étendues de dunes stables et mouvantes, les plus grandes d’Amérique du Sud, témoignent remarquablement de la progression évolutive des dunes côtières tout au long du Quaternaire.Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
مُتَنَزّه لينسويس مارنيانسيس الوطني
يوجد هذا الموقع شمال شرق البرازيل في الساحل الشرقي لولاية مارانهاو في منطقة انتقالية تفصل بيت ثلاث مناطق بيئية برازيلية، هي مناطق سيرادو، وكاتينغا، والأمازون. إنّ أكثر من نصف مساحة الموقع عبارة عن حقول كثبان رملية بيضاء ساحلية مع بحيرات مؤقتة ودائمة. ويضطلع المُتَنَزّه بدور هام على صعيد صون التنوع البيولوجي والحفاظ عليه، وتمتد أهميته لتشمل أيضاً ما يكتنزه من قيم جمالية وجيولوجية/جيومورفولوجية تكتسي أهمية عالمية. وتسهم الرياح السائدة، التي تهب على امتداد شريط ساحلي يبلغ طوله 80 كيلومتراً، وتليه شواطئ خلفها سهول منبسطة، في تشكيل الكثبان الرملية على هيئة سلاسل مترامية الأطراف من الكثبان الهلالية التي تمتلئ عند هطول الأمطار لتشكل بحيرات تتباين أحجامها وأشكالها وألوانها وأعماقها. تتجلى المنطقة بأبهى صورها عندما تمتلئ البحيرات تماماً في منظر خلاب نادراً ما تراه العين البشرية. وتغطي الكثبان الرملية الثابتة والمتحركة رقعة شاسعة هي الأكبر في في أمريكا الجنوبية، وتقف شاهداً قوياً على التطور التدريجي للكثبان الساحلية عبر العصر الرباعي.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
伦索伊斯-马拉年塞斯国家公园
伦索伊斯-马拉年塞斯（Lençóis Maranhenses）国家公园位于巴西东北部的马拉尼昂州东海岸，地处塞拉多、卡廷加、亚马逊3大巴西生物群系间的过渡地带。白色海岸沙丘地带占据了其过半面积，其中包括永久性和临时性潟湖。公园不仅在保护生物多样性方面发挥重要作用，还具有世界级美学和地质/地貌价值。80公里的海岸线由沙滩覆盖，尽头则是平原。沙丘被盛行风塑造成长长的新月形沙丘链。雨季来临时，沙丘之间的洼地会被雨水填满，形成颜色、形状、大小、深浅各异的潟湖。蓄水量达到顶点时，公园景色美不胜收。这里拥有南美洲面积最大的固定沙丘和移动沙丘，为第4纪海岸沙丘的演变过程提供了出色例证。
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Национальный парк Ленсойс-Мараньенсес
Объект расположен на северо-востоке Бразилии, на восточном побережье штата Мараньян, в переходной зоне между тремя бразильскими биомами: Серрадо, Каатинга и Амазония. Более половины его территории занимает белое прибрежное дюнное поле с временными и постоянными лагунами. Помимо важной роли в сохранении биоразнообразия, парк обладает мировой эстетической, геологической и геоморфологической ценностью. Вдоль 80-километровой береговой линии, где пляжи сменяются равнинами, под воздействием преобладающих ветров дюны превращаются в длинные цепочки барханов. В сезон дождей они заполняются, образуя лагуны различных цветов, форм, размеров и глубины. Когда лагуны достигают своего максимального объема, здесь открываются живописные пейзажи редкой красоты. На территории объекта расположено самое большое в Южной Америке скопление как неподвижных, так и движущихся дюн. Оно служит ярким свидетельством эволюции прибрежных дюн в течение четвертичного периода.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Parque Nacional de los Lençóis Maranhenses
El sitio se encuentra en el noreste de Brasil, en la costa este de Maranhão, en una zona de transición entre tres biomas brasileños: Cerrado, Caatinga y Amazonia. Más de la mitad de su superficie está cubierta por zonas de dunas costeras de arena blanca con lagunas temporales y permanentes. El parque no solo cumple un papel importante en la conservación de la biodiversidad, sino que también posee valores estéticos y geológicos/geomórficos considerables. A lo largo de su litoral de 80 km de extensión, en el que se alternan playas y llanuras, los vientos dominantes modelan las dunas creando largas cadenas de barjanes que, durante la estación lluviosa, se llenan formando lagunas de diversos colores, formas, tamaños y profundidades. El sitio luce su mayor esplendor cuando las lagunas alcanzan su volumen máximo, creando una belleza única. La vasta extensión de dunas estabilizadas y móviles, la mayor de Sudamérica constituye una prueba extraordinaria de la progresión evolutiva de las dunas costeras a lo largo del Cuaternario.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
Consisting of large and extensive dunes, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park resembles a desert. However, located in northeastern Brazil, on the east coast of Maranhão, the property is subject to a semi-humid climate with a rainy season providing large volumes of water and resulting in the formation of temporary inter-dunal lagoons. The property comprises an area of 156,562 ha, of which about 90,000 ha are composed of an extensive dune field with temporary and permanent lagoons, bordering deflation plains as source area for the dunes along the 80 km coastline. The mostly unidirectional wind shapes barchan dunes up to 75 km in length. The property presents its most stunning scenery, when the lagoons reach their maximum water levels during the rainy season, exhibiting a wide range of different colours, shapes, sizes, and depths. The origin of the dune field is related to sedimentation from marine transgressions and regressions, which combined with the wind action allowed the formation of dune fields along the Quaternary. The property is located in the Barreirinhas Basin in a transition zone between three Brazilian biomes: Cerrado, Caatinga and Amazon. The park’s vegetation is composed of pioneer formations of Restinga, mangroves and alluvial communities that, together with marine and freshwater environments, are fundamental for the conservation of species diversity.
Criterion (vii): The Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is part of an incomparable landscape. It is formed by successive dune chains interspersed with temporary and perennial lagoons. Along the park’s 80 km of coastline, there is a beach between 600m and 2km. The sand deposited by tides on the beach is gradually eroded by the wind, shaping small barchans with heights ranging from 50 cm to one metre near the shoreline, reaching heights of up to 30 m as they migrate inland, downwind and atop dunes from previous generations. The barchan dunes form winding chains up to 75 km long and move over 20 km inland. During the rainy season, temporary lakes form between the dunes, only to vanish in the dry season, leading to a constant transformation of the landscape. With dune mobility at migration rates ranging from 4 to 25 meters per year, these lakes reemerge in new locations with altered shapes in the subsequent rainy season. The lakebeds are coated with a layer of brown or green algae and cyanobacteria, contributing to the ever-changing scenery and variety of shapes and colours, composing a landscape of unique beauty rarely found anywhere else in the world.
Criterion (viii): The sediments in the Barreirinhas Basin are subject to aeolian processes forming a field of fixed and mobile dunes, considered the largest in South America. This process is considered one of the best and largest examples of the development of coastal dunes along the Quaternary, and the only site worldwide with such extensive development of dynamic dunes and lagoons. The dunes form long chains of barchans arranged in the same direction and increasing in size as they advance inland. Temporary ponds are formed by the rise of the water table during the rainy season. The property stands out within the complex interplay of climatic, oceanographic, and geomorphological elements along the Brazilian coast, featuring unique dune and lagoon formations fed exclusively by rainwater. These features, shaped by coastal dynamics and various environmental interactions, serve as remarkable evidence of the evolutionary progression of coastal dunes over millennia, including insights into pre-vegetation fluvial landscapes, serving as a present-day analogue for understanding past fluvial processes. The geomorphological processes create pristine and nascent habitats for a diverse and specialised and pioneer flora and fauna.
Integrity
With an area of 156,562 ha, the property encompasses 90,000 ha of dune fields with beautiful chains of barchans interspersed with temporary and perennial lagoons, exclusively fed by rainwater. More than 40,000 ha are covered by Restinga vegetation, which along with mangroves, lagoons, rivers, marine areas and other ecosystems supports species diversity and interact with geomorphological processes. The area is therefore large enough to guarantee the representation of elements and processes that constitute the property’s Outstanding Universal Value.
The dunes are separated from the coastline by a broad deflation plain ranging from 600 m to 2000 m in width. The sand deposited by tides on the beach is gradually eroded by the wind, shaping small barchans with heights ranging from 50 cm to one metre near the shoreline, reaching heights of up to 30 m as they migrate inland, downwind and atop dunes from previous generations. The dunes migrate with a speed of up to 25 m per year. During the rainy season, lagoons emerge amidst very clean sand. With no inlet or outlet, they are exclusively fed by rainwater. The fluctuation of the water table controls the morphology of the dunes.
The property is fully surrounded by a buffer zone of 268,231 ha, both along the coast and inland, creating an ecological buffer between the natural ecosystems and urbanised areas.
Protection and management requirements
The property is protected through the designation as Lençóis Maranhenses National Park with an area of 156,562 ha. This legally protected area is recognised since 1981 by legal decree and administered by the national protected areas authority, ICMBio, and comprises the National System of Protected Areas (SNUC), as the main territorial management instrument aimed at environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. The network of protected areas within and beyond the property also interacts with other levels of environmental protection and management at the state and municipal levels, as well as other legal instruments that intend to protect important ecosystems beyond protected areas boundaries.
In addition, it is part of the National System of Protected Areas (SNUC), belonging to the integral protection group, where natural resources can only be used indirectly. It has well defined boundaries and buffer zones with their respective regulation instruments, being the Management Plan and Public Use Plan. Management effectiveness evaluations are conducted regularly, and results publicly addressed. Monitoring, enforcement, and governance needs to be commensurate with the level of action needed to respond to pressures from tourism.
Governance and participatory approaches are secured both for multi-level governmental decision-making as well as users of the property, through at least two instances: the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park Council and the Regional Governance Instance Lençóis-Delta. At the time of inscription, more than 4,000 people are living within the boundaries of the property. Local and traditional communities need to be equitably involved and their rights observed. The National Park officially recognises the communities through “Terms of Commitment”, intending to respond to needs and sustainable activities carried-out by local inhabitants within the boundaries of the property. The identification and recognition of the traditional communities was still at an early stage at the time of inscription and will need to be strengthened.
The marine part of the buffer zone is subject to the National Coastal Management Plan and Ecological Economic Coastal Zoning (ZEEC). To ensure the protection of the property against threats from offshore, a strengthened protection and management regime for the marine part of the buffer zone will be required in future.
The Nomination files produced by the States Parties are published by the World Heritage Centre at its website and/or in working documents in order to ensure transparency, access to information and to facilitate the preparations of comparative analysis by other nominating States Parties.
The sole responsibility for the content of each Nomination file lies with the State Party concerned. The publication of the Nomination file, including the maps and names, does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the World Heritage Committee or of the Secretariat of UNESCO concerning the history or legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.