Natural attributions
On Monday, four islands in Japan, tidal flats in Korea, a forest in Thailand and wetlands in Georgia were among the sites inscribed for natural attribution.
Japan
©UNESCO/ MOEJThe Nakama River runs through a mangrove forest on Iriomote Island in Japan.
Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, Iriomote Island and the northern part of Okinawa Island encompass 42,698 hectares of subtropical rainforests on a chain located in the southwest of Japan.
They form an arc on the boundary of the East China Sea and Philippine Sea whose highest point, Mount Yuwandake on Amami-Oshima Island, rises 694 metres above sea level.
“Entirely uninhabited by humans, the site has high biodiversity value with a very high percentage of endemic species, many of them globally threatened [and]…is home to endemic plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, inland water fish and decapod crustaceans”, UNESCO said.
