Ngorongoro Conservation Area, World Heritage Site in Tanzania

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a nature reserve in northern Tanzania, is a vast crater area that is home to many endangered wild animals. It is called the “Zoo of the World” because it is home to 25,000 large animals. And the park is also valued as a heritage complex because of the 3.6-million-year-old Australopithecus footprints and other remains in the park.

Here, a World Heritage enthusiast explains why the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a World Heritage Site in an easy-to-understand manner. Read this and you will definitely learn more about the Ngorongoro Conservation Area!

What is Ngorongoro Conservation Area?

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a vast park with savannas, swamps, and acacia forests. The conservation area includes the crater, the largest caldera in the world, and the 40-km long Olduvai Valley. Within this crater, the Maasai tribe used to graze and coexist with nature.

Many animals live here, including some endangered species such as the Black rhinoceros. And the reserve is known around the world as a “world zoo,” with the highest density lion population in Africa.

Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro means “big hole” in Maasai language. Although it is called a crater, it was not created by a meteorite, but is a huge caldera area of about 300 km formed by volcanic eruptions. Its outer rim (the rim of the caldera) is 2,300m-2,400m above sea level, and the bottom is 1,800m above sea level.

Water remains in the caldera even during the dry season, making it a habitat for plants. The same is true for animals, which include leopards, African elephants, gnus, flamingos, zebras, buffaloes, and a wide variety of other animals. And the endangered black rhinoceros is also famous for its habitat.

The Maasai, who are known for their ability to jump high, have grazed their cattle here, but in 1975, grazing inside the crater was banned. Although grazing outside the crater is still practiced today, the Maasai do not consider the crater a national park, but rather a conservation area, as they are in a position to protect the crater from poaching.

Olduvai Valley

The area was additionally registered in 2010. The canyon extends for about 40 km, and fossils and stone tools dating from about 4 million years to modern times have been found in the cliffs.The fossil human bones discovered are all famous, from Australopithecus to Homo habilis and Homo erectus. And stone tools and other artifacts from the Paleolithic period, about 1.8 million years ago, have also been discovered. We believe that this is one of the earliest Paleolithic cultures in Africa, and the site has left a significant mark in human evolution.

For what reasons is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (National Park) a World Heritage Site?

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area was recognized for

Registration Criteria (iv)
The discovery of fossil human bones of Australopithecus and Paleolithic stone tools means that the Olduvai Valley is a place where the process of human evolution can be seen.

Registration Criteria (vii)
The point that the stunning scenery of Ngorongoro Crater and the wildlife that patrols the crater is one of the few beautiful landscapes on earth.

Registration Criteria (viii)
The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest caldera in the world and that it is part of the Great Rift Valley of East Africa.

Registration Criteria (ix)
The fact that the ecosystems here are so diverse that they have been described as “the zoo of the world” and are found almost exclusively in this area of the world.

Registration Criteria (x)
The point is that as many as 25,000 large animals live here, including endangered species such as the black rhino and golden cat.

World Heritage Mania Conclusions and Impressions

Anyway, it is a voluminous heritage site as a composite heritage site, but originally only the Ngorongoro Crater was registered. The point is that Ngorongoro Crater is the largest caldera in the world and its rich soil is an ideal home for many animals.Another point of appreciation is that the Olduvai Valley was registered in 2010, and the process of human evolution can also be seen.

The Maasai are famous for having some fierce people with eyesight of over 10 to live in the savanna, but it is well known that recently, as more and more Maasai live in cities and start looking at PCs and smartphones, their eyesight has become the same as that of ordinary people. They are just training their ability to see far away to protect them from dangerous animals here, and we can see that their eyesight was actually covered by their efforts… and we can also see “human evolution” in a certain sense, such as the possibility that their eyesight was actually covered by their efforts.

*The contents here are considerations derived from research conducted by World Heritage enthusiasts.As for the data, interpretation differs depending on the media.