Avenue of the Baobabs, Madagascar
Beautiful alignment of Madagascaran baobabs Adansonia grandidieri Baillon. A group of stout, majestic, up to 30 meters high baobabs are located around a dirt road, creating a unique landscape. The landscape is not natural – initially the roughly 800 years old trees were growing in a dense forest that has been cleared away.
Crystal Cave in Bermuda
The best-known cave in Bermuda, accidentally discovered in 1905 while searching for a lost cricket ball. Approximately 500 m long. This spectacular, partly inundated cave is rich with stalactites and stalagmites. Next to it is another cave of similar beauty – Fantasy Cave.
Goto Meer (Goto Lake)
Salt lake with a large population of flamingos. In January – July in the lake are breeding several hundreds of these birds.
Forest of Scalesia daisy trees in Santa Cruz
Spectacular cloud forest dominated by Scalesia pedunculata trees. This is the largest tree in the Asteraceae family and grows up to 15 m tall. These unusual tree-like daisies are endemic to Galápagos and form smaller forest on several islands.
Paramo El Angel – eerie land of frailejones
Beautiful montane meadows with tall frailejón plants (mainly Espeletia pycnophylla), creating eerie landscape. One of the largest meadows with frailejónes.
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River
More than 24 km long cave system with 8.4 kilometers long underground river, which is accessible directly from the sea and navigable up to 4.2 km deep. Contains also Italian’s Chamber – a giant cave hall.
Forest on Robinson Crusoe Island
Temperate forest with a unique level of endemism – out of 211 local plant species 132 are endemic – e.g. met only on this island. The dense forest is formed from trees that are not met anywhere else. Hundreds of endemic species of insects.
Grand Bois, Amsterdam Island
The only remnant of the dense forest of Phylica arborea – an subantarctic tree. This forest covers 8 ha, earlier, before the human inflicted forest fires it covered large part of the island.
Niau tropical forest – feo
One of the rare areas covered with a specific ecosystem – Tuamotu tropical moist forest. The whole island – atoll is some 20 km² large. The island has a green, hypersaline lagoon. The only habitat of the very rare Tuamotu kingfisher (Todiramphus gambieri).
Vailulu’u Eel City and Moat of Death
A hydrothermal vent in the summit of an enormous submarine volcano rises 4,200 m from the ocean floor. The Nafanue volcanic cone in the center of the 400 m deep caldera contains a group of hydrothermal vents inhabited by numerous eels (Dysommina rugosa). This is unusual – in general vertebrates do not live near hydrothermal vents.
