Black River Gorges National Park
Black River Gorges National Park
LocationMauritius
Area67.54 km2 (26.08 sq mi)
EstablishedJune 15, 1994 (1994-06-15)

Black River Gorges National Park is a national park in the hilly south-western part of Mauritius.[1][2][3][4] It was proclaimed on June 15, 1994 and is managed by the National Parks and Conservation Service. It covers an area of 67.54 km² including humid upland forest, drier lowland forest and marshy heathland. Facilities for visitors include two information centres, picnic areas and 60 kilometres of trails. There are four field stations in the park which are used for National Parks and Conservation Service and Mauritian Wildlife Foundation research and conservation projects.

The park protects most of the island's remaining rainforest although much of this has been degraded by introduced plants such as Chinese guava and privet and animals such as rusa deer and wild pigs. Several areas have been fenced off and invasive species have been eradicated from them to preserve native wildlife. Many endemic plants and animals still occur in the park including the Mauritian flying fox and all of the island's endemic birds: Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, Mauritius parakeet, Mauritius cuckooshrike, Mauritius bulbul, Mauritius olive white-eye, Mauritius grey white-eye and Mauritius fody. The park has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Ellis, Royston; Richards, Alexandra & Schuurman, Derek (2002) Mauritius, Rodrigues, Réunion: the Bradt Travel Guide, 5th edition, Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, UK
  2. ↑ National Parks and Conservation Service, Accessed 13/11/07
  3. ↑ Sinclair, Ian & Langrand, Olivier (1998) Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands, Struik, Cape Town
  4. ↑ "Black River Gorges National Park in Mauritius". ile-maurice-sejour.com.
  5. ↑ "Black River Gorges and surrounding areas". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
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