Algeria - Aurès Park with the oasis settlements of the Rhoufi and El Kantara Gorge

"Aurès is bounded on the west by the great Batna depression to the east by the valley of the El Arab wadi and falling suddenly over the plains on its north and south faces. Its ridges peak to the north east at more than 2000 m. A very varied vegetation reflects climatic contrasts as there are few in Algeria. The northern slope has green oaks and aloft, beautiful cedar trees that crown the top of large anticlines on siliceous sandy soils. The southern slope bears forests of Aleppo pines and Phoenician junipers which make way south to the steppe and in the valley bottoms to the palm groves. The Aurès makes cohabitate with 30km of distance the cedar and the palm tree, one harvests the wheat in June in the north; in April in the palm groves. Such contrasts can only be explained because Aurès puts the Tell and the Sahara in direct contact."

Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List

Roufi, Algeria. Received in March 2020.