The Island of Príncipe Biosphere Reserve (established 2012) is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

. It encompasses the entire emerged area of the island of

Príncipe Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census;

, its islets

Bom Bom "Bom Bom" is a song by the British-Dutch three-piece music group Sam and the Womp. The track was first released in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2012. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart with 107,461 copies sold in its first ...

, Boné do Jóquei, Mosteiros, and Pedra da Galé, and the Tinhosas islands (

Tinhosa Grande Tinhosa Grande is an uninhabited islet in São Tomé and Príncipe, located southwest of the island of Príncipe and northeast of the island of São Tomé. Together with the smaller islet Tinhosa Pequena Tinhosa Pequena is an uninhabited isl ...

and

Tinhosa Pequena Tinhosa Pequena is an uninhabited islet in São Tomé and Príncipe, located southwest of the island of Príncipe and northeast of the island of São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of ...

) as well as surrounding

marine habitats Marine habitats are habitats that support marine life. Marine life depends in some way on the saltwater that is in the sea (the term ''marine'' comes from the Latin ''mare'', meaning sea or ocean). A habitat is an ecological or environmental a ...

. The reserve is located in the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

off the west coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and is managed by the regional government of Príncipe. The surface area of the reserve is , subdivided as follows: * Core area: arine ; land * Buffer zone: arine ; land * Transition area: arine ; land ref name=MAB>

Ecological characteristics

The island is characterized by its gentle relief in the northern half of the island and a mountain range in the southern half composed of several

phonolitic Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (mixed fine- and coarse-grained). Phonolite is a variation of the igneous ...

peaks with altitudes between where there is a patch of primary

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. The difference in

geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

and

terrain Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...

between the two sides, results in differentiated

bioclimatology Bioclimatology is the interdisciplinary field of science that studies the interactions between the biosphere and the Earth's atmosphere on time scales of the order of seasons or longer (in contrast to biometeorology). Examples of relevant processes ...

, has influence in the distribution of major types of ecosystems of the island, such as lotic (river) systems in the area of the

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

and its valleys and lentic (lake) systems in the northern plains area. The biosphere reserve is home to great

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

in terrestrial as well as in marine ecosystems, with high rates of

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

in many groups of organisms, especially

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They al ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

s, insects, birds, reptiles and bats. It is part of the biodiversity hotspot of

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fores ...

s of West Africa, containing a wide range of plant communities and habitats of high international importance such as primary tropical forests, forest shade, palm trees and lowland riparian habitats. Considering the importance that this area has for the reproduction of

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

s, seabirds and

cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

ns, as well as coral reefs, on the international scene, it is an area of great interest for the conservation of global biological diversity.

Socio-economic characteristics

, the resident population in the reserve was 6.737 inhabitants, all of whom live in the transition zone as all the islets are uninhabited. The economic activities in the biosphere reserve are essentially fishing and agriculture (especially cocoa, coffee and copra) besides a small tourist development, mainly composed of some tourism in the capital of Santo Antonio and an island resort in the area of Bom Bom. Agriculture and fisheries are mainly subsistence activities, particularly for consumption and trade surpluses in the local market. Agricultural and fish products are mainly consumed in their primary form, but there are some processed products such as dried fish, fried bananas, the “cacharamba” (local sugar cane rum) and palm wine.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Island of Principe Biosphere Reserve Biosphere reserves Príncipe 2012 establishments in São Tomé and Príncipe