Lake Turkana National Parks Lake Turkana Widely known as Jade Sea because of its almost incandescent turquoise colour of water Largest desert lake in the world and also the most saline lake in East Africa Lake Turkana National Parks Has world’s largest crocodile population Habitat of many tribes - El Moro, Gabbra, Rendille, Samburu, Watta, Dasannach, Pokot, Turkana etc. Category Natural Known as “the cradle of mankind” – Richard Leakey uncovered the million year old fossil of “Homo Erectus” and Location Lake Turkana basin, Meave Leakey discovered a 3.5 million year old skull, named “Kenyanthropus playtops” Kenya Lake Turkana National Parks Total Area 161,485 hectares Located within the Lake Turkana basin, Kenya Parks Sibiloi Group of 3 national parks - Sibiloi National Park, the South Island (important bird area under Birdlife International) and the included South Island Central Island National Parks Central Island Enjoys the highest level of legal protection by both the Kenya Wildlife Act cap 376 as well as the Antiquities and Monument Act cap 215 (currently the National Museums and Heritage Act of 2006) under Kenyan legislation Inscription UNESCO World Has the Koobi Fora deposits which is rich in mammalian, molluscan and other fossil remains Heritage Site (1997) Has over 100 archeological sites and geological features stem from the Pliocene and Holocene periods (4million to 10,000 years old) Major breeding grounds for the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus), hippopotamus and a variety of venomous snakes Koobi Fora Deposits Flora & Fauna Homeground of extensive paleontological findings Important flyway passage and stopover for palaeartic migrant birds Major discoveries – Paranthropus boisei, Homo habilis, Austrolophithecus anamensis, Yellow speargrass Imperata cylindrica, Commiphora sp., Acacia tortilis, and Homo habilis/rudolfensis, Paranthropus boisei, Homo erectus, Homosapiens etc. other acacia species Fossils gives evidence of existence of relatively intelligent hominid 2 million Species of desert date Balanites aegyptiaca and doum palm Hyphaene years ago coriacea Fossils reflects the change in climate from moist forest grassland to the present Submerged beds of Potamogeton pectinatus giving shelter to spawning fish hot desert. Grasses like Paspalidium geminatum and Sporobolus spicatus. Source: http://www.idasbrasil.com.br/idasbrasil/cidades/Congonhas/port/santuario.asp http://www.worldplacestovisit.net http://world_heritage.jaxa.jp http://www.africannaturalheritage.org http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com