1516, 1577 SAINT LUCIA - Pitons Management Area (UNESCO WHS)

1516 Saint Lucia - The Pitons and Soufriere Bay

Posted on 07.04.2015, 13.05.2015
The Pitons are two mountainous volcanic spires rising side by side from the sea (770 m and 743 m high respectively), linked by the Piton Mitan ridge, and located near the town of Soufrière, on the southwestern coast of Saint Lucia. The volcanic complex includes a geothermal field with sulphurous fumeroles and hot springs. The Marine Management Area is a coastal strip 11km long and about 1km wide. It comprises a steeply sloping continental shelf with fringing and patch reefs, boulders and sandy plains. The coral reefs, which cover almost 60% of the marine area, are healthy and diverse.

1577 Saint Lucia - The Pitons view fron the Soufriere Bay

The dominant terrestrial vegetation is tropical moist forest grading to subtropical wet forest, with small areas of dry forest and wet elfin woodland on the summits. Because, on the one hand, the Pitons fully illustrate the volcanic history of an andesitic composite volcano associated with crustal plate subduction, and on the other they have an powerful visual impact and incontestable aesthetic qualities, the two adjacent forest-clad volcanic lava domes rising abruptly from the sea, the Pitons Management Area was included in 2004 by UNESCO among the World Heritage Sites.

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