Camels crossing the desert near Africa's highest sand dunes at Temet, Air and Tenere Natural Reserves world heritage site, Niger

Elephants crossing the Zambezi river in Mana Pools National Park world heritage site, Zimbabwe

Ice cliffs near the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park world heritage site, Tanzania

Black and white ruffed lemur, Rainforests of the Atsinanana world heritage site, Madagascar

(clockwise from top left: Grauer's gorilla (Kahuzi-Biega); Victoria Falls; Hawkmoth caterpillars (Dja reserve); Protea flower (Cape Floral Region)

Lake Malawi National Park - Malawi

Map showing the location of Lake Malawi National Park world heritage site in Malawi Area (serial site): 94 km²

Inscribed: 1984

Criteria: (vii) aesthetic; (ix) ecological processes; (x) biodiversity

Values: Located at the southern end of Lake Malawi, this National Park includes 16 separate components - four shoreline areas and 12 islands of varying size, together with the lake waters within 100m of the shore. The lake, with its deep clear waters and varied habitats, contains the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world: 3,000 in all with more than 800 species of Cichlidae. These are mostly small brightly coloured mouth-brooding fishes that live amongst the rocks close to the shore. All but five species occur nowhere else in the world, and the degree of adaptive radiation and the explosiveness of the speciation is remarkable and not yet wholly explained. Their importance for the study of evolution by adaptive radiation is comparable with that of the Galapagos Islands finches.

Slideshow of Lake Malawi National Park

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Links: Google Earth | WCMC Site Description |Official UNESCO Site Details

The rocky shores of Lake Malawi povide habitat for more than 500 species of endemic cichlid fishes, many of which are protected in Lake Malawi National Park world heritage site Tourism is flourishing at Monkey Bay in the heart of the Lake Malawi National Park world heritage site Islands often support unique endemic species of mbuna, as the rock-dwelling cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi world heritage site are known locally Many of the 500 endemic species of cichlid fish in Lake Malawi world heritage site are brightly coloured mouth-brooding fish