Cova-Paul-Ribeira da Torre Natural Park, in the east of the island of Santo Antão, is one of ten "natural parks" in the country of

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

.Parques Naturais
Áreas protegidas Cabo Verde Its area is ,Resolução nº 36/2016
, Estratégia e Plano Nacional de Negócios das Áreas Protegidas of which in the municipality of

Ribeira Grande Ribeira Grande may refer to the following places: Cape Verde * Ribeira Grande (stream), a stream on the island of Santo Antão * Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde, a town on the island of Santo Antão * Ribeira Grande, Cape Verde (municipality), a municip ...

, in the municipality of

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

and in the municipality of

Porto Novo , , ; ; ; also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe) is the capital and second-largest city of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. In 1863, following British bombardment, Porto-Novo accepted French ...

. Since 2016, the natural park is on the tentative list of

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s.Parc Naturel Cova, Paúl et Ribeira da Torre
UNESCO

Geography

The natural park covers the Cova Crater, the upper valley of the Ribeira da Torre (from Xoxo upstream), the upper valley of the Ribeira do Paul and the Pico da Cruz.Consultoria em Gestão de Recursos Naturais
Isildo Gomes, p. 17-30 The landscape is characterised by the volcanic crater of Cova, the steep cliffs and escarpments that end in the deep river valleys. Its elevation ranges from around 400 m near Xoxo to 1585 m at the Pico da Cruz.

Flora and fauna

The land cover in the natural park is part forest and part farmland. It has a large variety of endemic plants, many of which are

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

, including '' Carex antoniensis'', '' Conyza pannosa'', '' Tornabenea insularis'', '' Euphorbia tuckeyana'' and ''

Globularia amygdalifolia ''Globularia amygdalifolia'' is a flowering plant of the family Plantaginaceae. The species is endemic to Cape Verde.Oromí, Martín, Zurita & Cabrera, 2005 : Lista preliminar de especies silvestres de Cabo Verde: Hongos, Plantas y Animales Terr ...

''. The park is the habitat of several endemic species of reptiles and birds.

References

{{authority control National parks of Cape Verde Geography of Santo Antão, Cape Verde Paul, Cape Verde Porto Novo Municipality Ribeira Grande Municipality

Geography

Flora and fauna

See also

References