High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area
A High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area (HBWA) is an elaboration on the IUCN Protected Area classification of a Wilderness Area (Category Ib), which outlines five vast wilderness areas of particularly dense and important levels of biodiversity. The sub-classification was the initiative of Conservation International (CI) in 2003 to identify regions in which at least 70 percent of their original vegetation has remained intact in order to ensure that this is safeguarded and these regions do not become biodiversity hotspots. (wiki)
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Canaima National Park | Amazonia | |
| Carlsbad Caverns | North American Deserts, Southwest United States and Mexico | |
| Central Amazon Conservation Complex | Amazonia | |
| Central Suriname Nature Reserve | Amazonia | |
| Dja Faunal Reserve | Congo Basin | |
| El Pinacate | North American Deserts, Southwest United States and Mexico | |
| Garamba National Park | Congo Basin | |
| Grand Canyon | North American Deserts, Southwest United States and Mexico | |
| Gulf of California | North American Deserts, Southwest United States and Mexico (Sonora desert) | |
| Kahuzi-Biega National Park | Congo Basin | |
| Lake Malawi | Miombo-Mopane woodlands and savannas | |
| Lopé-Okanda | Congo Basin | |
| Lorentz National Park | New Guinea, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea | |
| Mana Pools | Miombo-Mopane Woodlands and Savannas | |
| Manovo-Gounda St. Floris | Congo Basin | |
| Manu National Park | Amazonia | |
| Noel Kempff Mercado National Park | Amazonia | |
| Odzala-Kokoua | Congo Basin | |
| Okapi Wildlife Reserve | Congo Basin | |
| Okavango Delta | Miombo-Mopane Woodlands and Savannas | |
| Salonga National Park | Congo Basin | |
| Sangha Trinational | Congo Basin | |
| Selous Game Reserve | Miombo-Mopane Woodlands and Savannas | |
| Victoria Falls | Mopane: "Mopane woodlands has developed in valleys where the underlying basalt has been exposed." (AB Ev.) | |
| Virunga National Park | Congo Basin | |
| Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino | North American Deserts, Southwest United States and Mexico |
Suggestions?
Do you know of another WHS we could connect to High-Biodiversity Wilderness Area?
A connection should:
- Not be "self evident"
- Link at least 3 different sites
- Not duplicate or merely subdivide the "Category" assignment already identified on this site.
- Add some knowledge or insight (whether significant or trivial!) about WHS for the users of this site
- Be explained, with reference to a source