Pedras Tinhosas is a small archipelago of two islets, Tinhosa Grande and Tinhosa Pequena, south-west of the island of Príncipe in the Atlantic Ocean. Since 2012, it has formed part of UNESCO's

Island of Príncipe Biosphere Reserve The Island of Príncipe Biosphere Reserve (established 2012) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in São Tomé and Príncipe. It encompasses the entire emerged area of the island of Príncipe, its islets Bom Bom, Boné do Jóquei, Mosteiros, and Ped ...

, which includes the island of Príncipe and the surrounding islets.

Environment

Both islets are covered with brushwood, and serve as a nesting ground for a wide variety of sea birds, including ''

Anous stolidus The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. T ...

'', '' Anous minutus'', ''

Onychoprion fuscatus The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Taxonomy The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnae ...

'', white-tailed tropic bird (''

Phaethon lepturus The white-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon lepturus'') is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western P ...

'') and the

brown booby The brown booby (''Sula leucogaster'') is a large seabird of the booby family Sulidae, of which it is perhaps the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious brow ...

(''Sula leucogaster''). The islets have been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

for their seabird colonies.

References

Uninhabited islands of São Tomé and Príncipe Ramsar sites in São Tomé and Príncipe Príncipe Important Bird Areas of São Tomé and Príncipe Seabird colonies {{SaoTomePrincipe-geo-stub