Ilhéu Raso is an uninhabited Resolução nº 36/2016
Estratégia e Plano Nacional de Negócios das Áreas Protegidas volcanic island in the Barlavento

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arc ...

of Cape Verde. It is flanked by the smaller Branco islet to the west and by São Nicolau island on its eastern side, distance is from the island of São Nicolau. Together with Santa Luzia and Ilhéu Branco, Ilhéu Raso is on the tentative list of UNESCO's

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s.Complexe d’aires Protégées de l’île de Santa Luzia et des Ilots Branco et Raso
UNESCO Since 1990, the islet is part of the protected area ''Reserva Natural Integral de Santa Luzia''. The island is long by wide,Cabo Verde, Statistical Yearbook 2015
Instituto Nacional de Estatística, p. 25 Its highest point is Monte da Ribeira Ladrão, elevation above sea level.Tactical Pilotage Chart K-0A
Perry–Castañeda Map Collection The south-western part is a dry, boulder-strewn plain. There is little vegetation apart from an area of grassland in the south-west. The entire coastline consists of rocky cliffs.

Fauna

Raso is now the only home of the critically endangered

Raso lark The Raso lark (''Alauda razae'') is a small passerine bird with a highly restricted range, being found only on Raso islet in the Cape Verde Islands. This critically endangered member of the family Alaudidae lives in very arid terrain, and is co ...

(about 45 pairs). The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because, as well as the larks, it supports populations of

Cape Verde shearwater The Cape Verde shearwater (''Calonectris edwardsii''), or cagarra locally, is a medium-large shearwater, a seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It is Endemism in birds, endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago of Macaronesia in the Atlantic ...

s (with an estimated 2500–3750 breeding pairs),

red-billed tropicbird The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...

s (25–40 pairs),

Cape Verde barn owl The western barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is usually considered a subspecies group and together with the American barn owl group, the eastern barn owl group, and sometimes the Andaman masked owl make up the barn owl. The cosmopolitan barn owl is reco ...

s and

Iago sparrow The Iago sparrow (''Passer iagoensis''), also known as the Cape Verde or rufous-backed sparrow, is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is endemic to the Cape Verde archipelago, in the eastern Atlantic Ocean near western Africa ...

s, others include '' Oceanodroma castro''. It is one of only two islands where the extinct Cape Verde giant skink has been recorded. The

giant wall gecko The giant wall gecko (''Tarentola gigas'') is a species of gecko in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, natio ...

(''Tarentola gigas'') and a skink ('' Mabuya stangeri'') still occur.

References

External links

Fauna and flora of Cape VerdeIlhéu Raso
(BirdLife International)
« Étude de cas : Ilhéu Raso »
(Biosfera I) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilheu Raso Uninhabited islands of Cape Verde Important Bird Areas of Cape Verde