Permanent Nature ReservePatrimonio Mundial UNESCO

Lord Howe Island

Australia · Tasman Sea (Australian territory)

Tasman Sea (Australian territory)Declared in 19811,455 km²

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The southernmost coral reef in the world, on a volcanic island left over from a sunken seven-million-year-old volcano

Area

1,455 km²

Declared in

1981

Region

Tasman Sea (Australian territory)

Climate

Tropical, Árido / desértico, Templado, Mediterráneo

Best time

March to May

Ocean World Heritage

Plan your visit

Best time: March to May
Area: 1,455 km²

Highlight

The southernmost coral reef in the world, on a volcanic island left over from a sunken seven-million-year-old volcano

Protected across most of its area since 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982, Lord Howe Island is the eroded remnant of a sunken seven-million-year-old volcano and holds the southernmost coral reef on the planet. It is celebrated in scientific circles for the extraordinary story of the Lord Howe stick insect, given up as extinct after rats were accidentally introduced in 1918, until in 2001 a small party of climbers rediscovered a surviving population of barely a few dozen clinging to a single shrub on the volcanic stack of Ball's Pyramid, 23 km from the main island; since then a captive breeding programme in Australian zoos has brought the species back and made it possible to plan its eventual reintroduction, after the island's invasive rats were completely eradicated in 2019.