These last weeks, I shared with the 6th grade the vibes of Reunion Island. Today I’m glad to share it with all of you.
Reunion Island is a small piece of land, lost in the Indian Ocean, located at 11 000 kilometers from Europe, located at 200 kilometers from Mauritius and 2 hours by plane from Madagascar. Not many person know about our island, our story, our existence. But we are a French department, as well as Paris. We are part of the French patrimony.
The island was discovered by the Portugees in the 16th century, but it became officially a French colony in 1663, under the name of “Bourbon Island. As explained in my previous article, the slavery started in this period and is at the origin of the melting pot in our culture. At that time, among 22 000 inhabitants, there were 18 000 slaves. Today, we are 900,000 persons living on Reunion Island and our people are composed by Indians, Muslims, Europeans, Asians. All these communities are bound by tolerance and respect, two important notions for us. That’s why the name of our island means: “living together all united.”
Reunion Island is a volcanic island created by many eruptions from the extinct volcano called “Le Piton des Neiges.”This volcano stands in the center of the island, at 3,000 meters high. His neighbour is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, with at least five eruptions in a year, this is the second volcano on the island: “Le Piton de la Fournaise”, which stands at 2,600 meters high on the southeast of the island.
Moreover, 90% of the biodiversity of the island are in the UNESCO World Heritage. But how is it possible? It’s possible because, the National Park of France located on the island, established on 5th March, 2007, protects the endemic ecosystems of Reunion Island and covers 42% of the land. That’s why, all the population is living mostly on the coast.
But what is special about this park ? As you will see in the following videos, this park protects the two volcanoes, the Bébour forest, but also the three main areas which represent the heart of the national park:
- Le Cirque de Salazie
- Le Cirque de Cilaos
- Le Cirque de Mafate, only accessible by walking.
Enjoy !
