World heritage sites have been selected for their outstanding cultural and natural historical value to all humanity. The World Heritage DVD series transports viewers to 50 (two on each DVD) of the most popular, inspiring destinations. From lost civilizations to the splendors of earth's beauty, across the continents and under the sea, you will learn why these treasures are so critical to preserve and enjoy.

Vol. 1    Pyramid & Moenjodaro
    • Memphis and Its Necropolis - Along the banks of the Nile River, in the areas of Giza, Saqqara, and Dahshur, pyramids representing a variety of stages of development dot the landscape. The three great pyramids of Giza situated to the southwest of the Egyptian capital Cairo, the Saqqara necropolis which is representative of the ruins of the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis, and further to the south, the pyramids of Dahshur. This series of pyramid fields that stretches along the banks of the Nile was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1979.      
    • Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (Pakistan) – The Indus Civilization thrived in the Indus River Valley circa 2000BC. The Moenjodaro city archaeological site is representative of this civilization. Moenjodaro is in the Southern Pakistan province of Singh. The perimeter of the city ruin is roughly 4 kilometers. One can find evidence of methodical city planning; there are major thoroughfares running north to south, and east to west, and a sewer system runs through the city. The residential buildings are made of brick, and there are also public facilities such as a large bathing facility, wells, a drainage system, and an assembly hall.

Vol. 2.     Hattusha & Persepolis
    • Hattusha (Turkey) - The history of the Hittite Empire which dominated the Orient was brought to light thanks to the cuneiform character inscriptions excavated at the archaeological site of Hattusha. The Hittite tribe which advanced into Asia Minor at the beginning of the 17th century BC built the strongest country into Orient, employing horses, chariots, and metal weapons to establish their superiority. A large number of cuneiform character inscriptions were excavated at the Hattusha site near Bogazkale, meaning that the history of the Orient had to be largely rewritten.
    • Persepolis (Iran) - Magnificent palaces, in which royal ceremonies and celebrations were held, were constructed in Persepolis, the sacred capital of the Persian Empire. Situated to the northeast of the modern city Shiraz in southwest Iran, Persepolis was the ancient capital of the Persian Empire. Although the city was left in ruins after being destroyed by Alexander the Great, the ruins excavated at the site include the palaces constructed by Darius the Great and Xerxes 1, and relief carvings abound revealing the flowering of Achaemenid Dynasty art.

Vol. 3.    Acropolis & Great Wall
    • The Acropolis, Athens (Greece) - The Parthenon Temple that looks down over the city of Athens from the Acropolis is considered to be the greatest masterpiece of ancient Greek culture, and it became one of the starting points of Western culture. The hills on which temples and palaces were built in ancient Greece were called acropolises, and they were the political and religious heart of ancient Greek city states. Representative of these is the Acropolis of Athens, on top of which stand marble buildings such as the Erechtheion Temple and the Temple of Athena Nike, with the Parthenon built by the sculptor Pheidias at its center.
    • The Great Wall of China and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (China) - The Great Wall was constructed by Qin Shi Huang Di, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty and the first man to rule over all of China. The First Emperor’s mausoleum speaks to us of his immense power.
The Great Wall of China is one of the largest structures on Earth and it is said to be “the only man-made structure visible from the moon.” The Great Wall was constructed by Qin Shi Huang Di and other successive emperors using vast amounts of manpower and expenditure. The archaeological site of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor with its 6000 life-size figures of warriors and horses that were buried underground, speaks to us of the extent of the First Emperor’s power.

Vol. 4.    Bukhara & Palmyra
    • The Historic Center of Bukhara (Uzbekistan) - Situated on the Silk Road that passes east to west through Central Asia, the oasis city of Bukhara, offered traveling caravans a brief respite from their journey across the desert. The town Bukhara in Uzbekistan, Central Asia, once prospered as an important stop off point along the Silk Road. The town still retains the vestiges of the old Silk Road days with its many historic structures such as the Kalyan Minaret and the Ismail Samani Mausoleum.
    • Site of Palmyra (Syria) - Palmyra was a trade city connecting the East and West that flourished under Queen Zenobia and fell when she did. Situated in the approximate center of the Syrian Desert, the caravan city of Palmyra prospered under the protection of the Romans as a trade station on the Silk Road. The city fell in 273 because Queen Zenobia rebelled against Rome, but there are many structures remaining such as the Temple of Bel, the colonnaded streets, the Tetrapylon, a Roman theater, and tomb towers, that all hint at the prosperity of those bygone days.

Vol. 5.    Petra & Venice
    • Petra (Jordan) - Built amongst rocky hills, the ancient city of Petra had been completely forgotten, until the city’s ruins were discovered by a Swiss explorer in 1812. The ancient rose-colored fortress city of Petra was built by the Nabataeans (who came to this area in the 3rd Century BC), by carving deeply into the surrounding red rocks. There are still many extant structures such as Al Khazneh Faroun called “the Pharaoh’s Treasury,” a circular theater, and various temples, and they provide a beautiful contrast with the surrounding steep-sided rocky hills.
    • Venice and Its Lagoon (Italy) - Venice, the “City of Canals,” prospered greatly from maritime trade in the　Middle Ages, and the entire city is now truly a living architectural museum. From the 9th Century to the 15th Century, Venice prospered as a leading trade port connecting Europe with the Orient. The city with its history dating back to medieval times has many precious structures such as St. Mark’s Basilica in St. Mark’s Square, the Ducal Palace, and the Rialto Bridge.

Vol. 6.    Florence & Vatican
    • The Historic Center of Florence (Italy) - There were once a large number of great artists and architects working in Florence. The rich culture that matured in this area went on to flower as the Renaissance. Geniuses working in areas such as art and architecture competed to outdo each other while proclaiming loudly the importance of the concepts of respect for individual human beings and harmony between them. Florence became an important center of European culture and art thanks to the patronage of art and learning by the wealthy Medici family, a family of wealthy statesmen.
    • Vatican City (State of the Vatican City - One can retrace the footsteps of the great Renaissance artists in the Vatican City, the city-state in which the soul of Christ resides. This little sovereign city-state ruled by the Pope, the Vatican City, is a pillar of spiritual support for Catholics. In this city-state, which covers a mere 44 hectares, religious teachings and great art were fused to create a sublime cultural heritage that remains intact to this day. St. Peter’s Basilica and the Palace of the Vatican are literally treasuries of art.

Vol. 7.    Salamanca & Evora
    • The Old City of Salamanca (Spain)- When the Italian Renaissance’s fresh winds of change swept into Salamanca in Spain, it evolved into a city of learning, adorned with historic structures. In the city of Salamanca, home to Spain’s oldest university, there are a large number of historic structures including the Baroque style Plaza Mayor, huge cathedrals, and the Convent of San Esteban. Spain’s unique architectural style called “Plateresco” can be discerned in these structures.
    • The Historic Center of Evora, Portugal - Évora, had prospered since Roman times, but in the Renaissance period a university was built in the city, making it an important center of Portuguese culture. The Historic Center of Évora is just like a living museum with its collection of structures that date from Roman times to the 17th Century, such as a Roman temple, a cathedral, a convent, the university, and a wall that surrounds the city. This city, which offers visitors a chance to see the footprints of history, is a symbol of Portugal’s golden age.

Vol. 8.    Fontainebleau & Tikal
    • The Palace and Park of Fontainebleau (France) - Profoundly impressed by the art of the Renaissance, Francis I called Italian artists to the forest of Fontainebleau in order to have them build a luxurious palace. The Fontainebleau forest on the outskirts of Paris, France, had been a royal hunting ground since medieval times. It was here in 1528, that Francis I constructed the Renaissance style Fontainebleau Palace. From that time on, successive monarchs poured their wealth into the palace tailoring it to their tastes.
    • Tikal National Park (Guatemala) - Slumbering in the jungle of northern Guatemala, Tikal is the largest and oldest ruined city of the Maya civilization. The site contains around 3000 structures including temples and residential buildings. In 1696, a group of Spanish missionaries who had lost their way in the jungle while fleeing from the indigenous people stumbled upon an unbelievable sight. They saw four white temples rising high up above the sea of trees- it was the ruined city of Tikal with its countless ancient ruined structures. Even today, the magnificent sight of the ruined buildings causes people who visit the city to gasp in astonishment.

Vol. 9.    Palenque & Copan
    • The Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque (Mexico) - There were a number of city-states in the Maya region, but the city that prospered most during the 7th and 8th Centuries AD was Palenque. Following the appearance of the city-state of Tikal, a number of other cities began to develop in the surrounding area. During the 7th and 8th Centuries the power of these independent cities gradually began to grow. Amongst these cities, the one that prospered the most was Palenque, a satellite city of Tikal. Its prosperity began when King Pacal succeeded to the throne
    • The Maya Site of Copán (Honduras) - A pyramid staircase engraved with countless cuneiform characters, the site of a ball court, and plazas surrounded by magnificent buildings, are some of the defining features of Copán. The ruined Maya city of Copán in western Honduras started to gain power after the city of Palenque’s golden age had come to an end. In the center of the city there are a large number of stone monuments, five plazas with altars, pyramid-shaped temples that surround those plazas, and the dwelling of an oracle. The city itself had a number of satellite cities spread out over a wide region.

Vol. 10.    Chavin & Cuzco
    • The Archaeological Site of Chavin (Peru) - Around the year 1000 BC, an advanced civilization existed in the Andes Mountains long before the start of the Incan Empire. Chavín de Huantar is one of the ruins of this civilization. Chavín de Huantar is famous for its mazelike network of underground passageways: to the extent that, during the 1997 Japanese Embassy hostage crisis in Peru, the military operation that involved burrowing tunnels to rescue the hostages was called Operation Chavín de Huantar.
The style of artistic expression that can be seen at the temples of Chavín de Huantar was inherited by the later Inca Civilization.
    • The City of Cuzco and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (Peru)- The city of Cuzco is a place where Incan Civilization and Spanish culture converge. And, in the mountains to the northwest of Cuzco, is Machu Picchu, a city which escaped Spanish occupation. The temples and palaces of Cuzco, the capital city of the Incan Empire, were destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors, but the original subdivision of the city as delineated by the unique stone masonry foundations remained, and churches and cathedrals were built directly on top of the foundations of Incan buildings.
Machu Picchu, to the northwest of Cuzco, is an ancient city that remained undiscovered long enough to escape destruction.

Vol. 11.    Ajanta & Borobudur
    • Ajanta Caves (India) - Famous around the world for their elegant wall murals, the spectacle of the Ajanta Caves overwhelms visitors. Bored into a cliff-face on a bank of the Wanghora River in a ravine situated on the Deccan Plateau in India, the Ajanta Caves complex is one of the world’s greatest Buddhist ruins. The murals based on the Jataka stories and Mahavastu writings are particularly famous, and the caves allow us to trace the history of the golden age of Buddhism in India, and also trace the development of Buddhist art which originated here in these caves.
    • The Borobudur Temple Compounds (Indonesia) - The Borobudur Temple in central Java is a massive stupa that represents a harmonious expression of Buddhist devotion and the Buddhist view of the world. Built by the rulers of the Shailendra Dynasty in the 8th and 9th Centuries AD, the Borobudur Temple has a pyramid-like appearance with square and circular terraces and stupas arranged on the top. Each terrace has passageways and the walls of these passageways are covered with superb relief sculpture depicting a variety of episodes from Buddhist scripture.

Vol. 12.    Angkor & Mogao
    • Angkor (Cambodia) - Angkor, situated near Tonle Sap Lake, is a precious city ruins that conveys to us the splendor of the Khmer Kingdom. Situated at the heart of the Khmer Kingdom that ruled over the Indochina Peninsula from the 9th Century to the 15th Century, Angkor is dotted with the ruins of hundreds of stone temples, city walls, etc. Amongst these ruins, the stone temple Angkor Wat, and the royal city Angkor Thom, are the largest in scale and are the most valuable in terms of artistic merit.
    • Mogao Caves (China) - The construction of the Mogao Caves- the world’s largest cave-temple complex- began in the 4th Century BC, and continued on for a further 1000 years. The caves are situated near Dunhuang, a city that prospered thanks to its strategically important position on the Silk Road. The Mogao Caves are located in the northwest of China’s Gansu Province at the foot of the Sanwei and Mingsha Mountains on the outskirts of the oasis town of Dunhuang. There are 492 caves which are arranged over a span of about 1600 meters in a cliff face that stretches north to south. The total area of wall murals at the complex is more than 45,000 square meters, and there are some 2415 statues. This group of caves called the Mogao Caves, is an example of a type of Buddhist cave-temple referred to as ‘One Thousand Buddha Caves’ and it is the largest cave-temple complex in the world.

Vol. 13.    Kyoto & Isfahan
    • Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto City, Uji City Otsu City) Japan - The ancient capital Kyoto is the focal point of traditional Japanese culture, and has survived a great many wars to bequeath to posterity a large number of historical buildings. Kyoto prospered as the capital of Japan for about 1000 years: from 794 when Heian-Kyo (Kyoto’s original name) was declared to be the new capital, to 1869 when the capital was transferred to Tokyo. Although Kyoto is no longer the capital, the city is still the focal point of traditional Japanese culture and acts as an important spiritual support for the Japanese people. The city is also home to a vast array of precious shrines, temples, and Buddhist artwork.
    • Meidan Emam, Isfahan (Iran) - Isfahan prospered as the capital of the Safavid Dynasty from the end of the 16th, and there is a proverb that said of the city “Isfahan is half of the World.” Situated on a plateau 42 kilometers to south of Tehran, Isfahan is Iran’s second largest city. It is an ancient city that dates back to the time of the Assyrian Empire, but it repeatedly experienced periods of prosperity and decline. From the end of the 16th Century it came to flourish as the capital of the Safavid Dynasty.
Meidan Emam (the Imam Square) is enclosed by a group of buildings, including a palace and a mosque.

Vol. 14.    Cairo & Damascus
    • Islamic Cairo (Egypt) - The Old City area of Cairo is one of the world’s oldest Islamic cities, and is home to hundreds of mosques, ruined fortresses etc. When the Arab armies of the Umayyad Dynasty invaded in the mid-7th Century they set up their military base in Fustat on the outskirts of Cairo. And then in the 10th Century the Fatimid Caliphate built what is now the Old City section of Cairo as its capital and called it al-Qahirat (the Subduer). This is the origin of the name of Cairo, one of the world’s greatest Islamic cities.
    • The Ancient City of Damascus (Syria)) - The unchanging world of Eastern Islam is reflected in the work of the craftsmen making their handmade arts and crafts at the city’s old-fashioned souks (market). The Syrian capital Damascus is an oasis city built upon an alluvial fan. It was the capital of the Aramean Kingdom in the 10th Century, and is considered to be one of the oldest extant cities in the world. The city later came under the rule of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman, and Byzantine empires, but from the 7th Century AD, it was ruled for a long duration by Islamic powers.

Vol. 15.    Istanbul & Cordoba
    • Historic Areas of Istanbul (Turkey) - Referred to as the crossroads of East and West, Istanbul is home to Islamic, Roman, and Byzantine heritage sites. Due to the strategic importance of its location on the Bosporus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, and the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, any power that took control of Istanbul became the masters of their particular era. In the Old Town of Istanbul, Roman era ramparts, Byzantine churches, and Islamic mosques coexist forming a unique atmosphere.
    • The Historic Center of Cordoba; and the Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzin, of Grandad (Spain) - There are a number of glorious Islamic era heritage sites in Spain, such as the Mezquita in Cordoba, and the Alhambra Palace in Granada. The legacy of Islamic culture remains strong in the towns of Cordoba and Granada in the province of Andalusia in southern Spain. The city of Cordoba, which was the capital of the Later Umayyad Caliphate from the 8th Century to the 11th Century; and the city of Granada, which flourished as the seat of the Nasrid Dynasty from the 13th Century to the 15th Century, are home to some of the greatest buildings in the Islamic world.

Vol. 16.    Chartres & Thessalonika
    • Chartres Cathedral (France) - Chartres Cathedral was built under the ‘Cult of the Virgin Mary.’ The cathedral is filled with mysterious light, and attracts many pilgrim worshippers. Construction of Chartres Cathedral, the symbol of French Gothic architecture, began in the 12th Century and was completed in the 13th Century. Adorned with two towering steeples, colorful stained glass windows that retain their original appearance, and Gothic style sculpture, the cathedral holds a very important place in the history of art.
    • Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika (Greece) - Byzantine and early Christian monuments have long been watching the march of history in Thessalonika, a city where long ago the apostle Paul once carried out missionary work. In the Byzantine era, the city of Thessalonika in northern Greece prospered as the second most important city of the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople. The city is home to a large number of Byzantine and early Christian monuments, including the Church of Saint Demetrius, the Church of Agia Sofia, and the Church of the Holy Apostles.

Vol. 17.    Göreme & Kiev
    • Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia Caves (Turkey) - Cappadocia has an array of great sculptural works created both by Mother Nature and by man, including forests of strange rock formations, and cave dwellings and churches hewn out of the bedrock.
    • Kiev: Saint Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Ukraine) - A succession of magnificent churches was built in Kiev following the conversion to the Greek Orthodox Faith of Vladimir, the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Kiev. The Ukrainian capital is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe. As a result of Grand Duke Vladimir’s conversion to the Greek Orthodox Faith in the 10th Century, the city is home to such wonderful buildings as the Saint-Sofia Cathedral, which is adorned with beautiful mosaics and frescos; and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Monastery with its towering bell towers.

Vol. 18.    Mont-Saint-Michel & Hawaii
    • Mont-Saint Michel and Its Bay (France) - At full tide, the holy monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel is completely surrounded on all four sides by the sea, and its sublime, towering image is reflected in the waters below. The monastery that stands upon a small island in Mont-Saint-Michel Bay in northwestern France was built in the 8th Century at the instruction of the archangel Michael. After becoming a Benedictine monastery in the 10th Century a variety of structures such as churches and ramparts were built in a variety of styles up until the 16th Century, and the monastery came to attract a large number of pilgrims.
    • Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (The United States of America) - The island of Hawaii is home to the world’s largest active volcanoes- the boiling magma-filled mountains Kilauea and Mauna Loa. The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park covers the entire southeastern coast of Hawaii Island, and is an active volcanic region that features the volcanoes Mt. Kilauea and Mt. Mauna Loa. These are active volcanoes that are continuously producing lava, creating new land with terrifying force. This national park is one of the very few places in the world where people can witness volcanic activity firsthand.

Vol. 19.    Grand Canyon & Mt. Huangshan
    • Grand Canyon National Park (The United States of America) - The Grand Canyon, the gorge with the most magnificent scenery of any in the world, narrates to visitors its recollections of the Earth’s past activities of the last several hundred million years. The Grand Canyon in northwestern Arizona is a gorge that was carved from the Kaibab and Coconino Plateaus that form part of the larger Colorado Plateau. The canyon is 1600 meters deep, about up to 30 kilometers wide and about 450 kilometers long. The magnificent precipitous landscape of the canyon overwhelms visitors with its power.
    • Mount Huangshan (China) - One of China’s leading places of scenic beauty, Mount Huangshan features a plethora of extraordinarily beautiful overhanging cliffs that were scooped out by glacial erosion, and these coupled with ancient Huangshan Pines and the flowing ‘sea of clouds’ creates an atmosphere evocative of traditional Chinese landscape ‘mountain-and-water’ paintings. Since ancient times, the Chinese have considered Huangshan to be the most extraordinary mountain in the world. It is situated in the Anhui Province near the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The bizarre shapes of the peaks of Mount Huangshan are the result of glacial erosion, and their shapes, along with rare Huangshan pines and ‘seas of cloud’ combine to create a unique landscape.

Vol. 20.    Pirin & Canadian Rockies
    • Pirin National Park (Bulgaria) - The Pirin Mountains area features basin-shaped cirques carved out by glaciers, a large number of lakes that dot these cirques, and lush vegetation nourished by spring water. The mighty Pirin Mountain Range in southwest Bulgaria has a total of 81 peaks that exceed heights of 2500 meters. The mountains were shaped during the 4th glacial period of the Pleistocene epoch, and the valleys that lie between them have been carved into beautiful, rounded cirques by glaciers. These cirques are dotted with lakes making the park one of Eastern Europe’s most beautiful scenic spots.
    • Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks (Canada) - The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks feature U-shaped valleys, lakes and marshes, and precipitous mountainsides that were formed by glacial activity one million years ago. The Rocky Mountains are a vast chain of mountains that stretches a total of 4800 kilometers north to south along the western side of the North American Continent. The section of the mountain range that lies within Canadian territory is called the Canadian Rockies.
The mountains are characterized by their craggy topography, which is the result of glacial erosion. There are four contiguous national parks in the area: Jasper, Yoho, Banff, and Kootenay.

Vol. 21.    Iguazu & Fraser Island
    • Iguazu National Park (Brazil/Argentina) - Iguazu Falls, one of the three largest waterfalls in the world, throws up dense clouds of vapor and sends out a thunderous roar through the surrounding jungle. The Iguazu Falls, which lies on the border between Brazil and Argentina, is one of largest waterfalls in the world, with a total of 270 separate cascades stretched across an area three kilometers long. The “water cycle” that the waterfall creates enables a large number of rare plants and animals to live and grow in the surrounding jungle environment.
    • Fraser Island (Australia) - Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, is a paradise covered in lush greenery that is home to a wide variety of mammals and rare wild birds. Fraser Island measures 123 kilometers north to south, making it the world’s largest sand island. The island, which was created over an 800,000 year period, has a vast tropical rainforest and is a paradisiacal environment for the wild birds and mammals that inhabit it. The island is dotted with more than 40 sand dune lakes, and has over 50 rivers and streams, and these all help to create the island’s beautiful natural environment.

Vol. 22.    Everglades & Yakushima
    • Everglades National Park (The United States of America) - The Everglades National Park, with its vast virgin wetlands and mangrove forest, is a veritable treasury of wildlife. The gently flowing waters of the Everglades situated at the southern tip of the Florida Peninsula, is an avian paradise and a home to alligators and crocodiles. Dense mangrove forests thrive where the fresh waters of the wetlands finally meet the seawater of the Gulf of Mexico. These dense forests by the sea display to us the inner workings of nature.
    • Yakushima (Japan) - The island of Yakushima is home to a primeval forest of ancient crytomeria trees that are over 1000 years old, and features a variety of vegetation types ranging from subtropical to alpine. Yakushima is situated 70 kilometers to the south of the southern tip of Kagoshima Prefecture. The island has a diverse range of plant life with subtropical plants such as Chinese Banyan trees and Ficus superba var. japonica　trees growing near the coast; laurel forests and coniferous forests featuring ancient cryptomeria trees on the mountainsides; and clusters of Pseudosasa owatarii at elevations over 1500 meters. This fertile island is a microcosm of the various natural environments that exist on the islands of the Japanese Archipelago.

Vol. 23.    Danube & Great Barrier Reef
    • The Danube Delta (Romania) - Europe’s largest wetlands, the Danube Delta, is blanketed with a dense expanse of reeds, a bountiful untouched natural environment that is a paradise for wild birds. The Danube River, made famous by the popular piece of music “the Blue Danube,” is Europe’s second largest river. The river originates in Germany’s Black Forest region. The Danube Delta stretches out across the estuary of the Danube River which opens onto the Black Sea. As many as 300 species of birds live in this vast swathe of wetlands.
    • Great Barrier Reef (Australia) - The Great Barrier Reef, a 2000 kilometer stretch of colorful coral, is a paradisiacal habitat for marine creatures. Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef, is situated off the eastern coast of Queensland in northeastern Australia. The reef, ranges from 20 kilometers to 240 kilometers in width, is 2000 kilometers long, and is dotted with 700 large and small islands. Pleasure boats ply the calm sheltered waters that lie within the reef area.

Vol. 24.    Talamanca & Serengeti
    • Talamanca Range-La Amistad Reserves / La Amistad National Park (Costa Rica / Panama)- The vast tropical rainforests of La Amistad are a safe refuge for a variety of rare animals including the legendary bird, the quetzal. The Talamanca Mountain Range stretches from central Costa Rica to western Panama. The forested region that surrounds the mountain range is called La Amistad and is Costa Rica’s largest nature reserve. The primeval forest is Central America’s largest when the section situated on the Panama side of the border is included, and the richness of its fauna and flora is unmatched anywhere in the world.
    • Serengeti National Park / Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Tanzania) - The endless savanna of the Serengeti National Park and the vast crater of the Ngorongoro Conservation in which man and beast coexist. The name Serengeti means “Endless Plains” in the language of the Masai tribe. The Serengeti is situated at the center of the savanna of Africa, and is Tanzania’s largest national park. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area which is adjacent to the Serengeti National Park is a crater formed by a massive volcanic eruption that is dotted with marshes which are frequented by hippopotami.

Vol. 25.     Thungyai & Galapagos
    • Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries (Thailand) - This jungle, which is protected by forest rangers, is inhabited by rare animals such as green peafowl and Indian elephants. Thungyai and Huai Kha Khaeng are nature reserves that are situated adjacent to each other in a mountainous region in western Thailand. As they share the same environment, they were designated together as a single World Heritage Site. They make up Southeast Asia's largest nature reserve and are inhabited by elephants and tigers. Squads of forest rangers work to prevent poaching in the sanctuaries.
    • Galapagos Islands (Ecuador)- Charles Darwin was amazed by the unusual flora and fauna of the Galapagos Islands group, which includes such animals as giant tortoises and iguanas. Galapagos was the birthplace of the Theory of Evolution. The Galapagos Islands (Galapagos means “tortoise”) are a group of volcanic islands that belong to Ecuador in South America. They are located in the Pacific Ocean 960 kilometers to the west of Ecuador. They are officially called the ‘Archipielago de Colon.’ As they are situated in a location that is isolated from the outside world, the islands are inhabited by many unique plants and animals.