Africa's Natural Heritage (2/21)

Africa's Natural Heritage (2/21)

Dieter Moor travels to Africa with his viewers and presents the multifaceted and fascinating natural heritage of this continent. Contrasts that could hardly be greater determine the natural landscape of Africa. Due to its location on both sides of the equator and its compact form, Africa has the largest connecting landmass of the tropics. Further eastwards, in the southern Sahara, we find in the Air Mountains and the Ténéré Desert the complete opposite of tropical abundance: an inhospitable lunar landscape, bizarre and jagged, with ochre-hued dunes that constantly change their shape. Tanzania with its famous World Heritage Sites Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Kilimanjaro, could be described as the picture book of Africa. Once again quite different - the islands off the coast of Africa. Until 40 years ago the palm forest, evocative of a prehistoric age, in the remote Vallée de Mai on the Seychelles island of Praslin was still completely unspoilt. This is the home of the legendary "coco de mer" - a coconut which had already been discovered by the explorer Francesco de Magellan. The island of Madagascar remained in the ocean when, millions of years ago, the African-Indian supercontinent drifted apart. Not until a thousand years ago did immigrants begin to change this supercontinental landscape. Only very few landscapes were able to withstand the process of cultivation.

The imagery of this film was shot with the utmost care and precision on 35mm film and comes from the raw footage of the series "Treasures of the World - Heritage of Mankind" which is devoted entirely to the Cultural and Natural Heritage of UNESCO.