The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a natural heritage site in the northern part of the Republic of Tanzania and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979. The conservation area is a vast highland volcanic region, bordered by the Serengeti National Park to the west and Lake Manyara National Park to the east, covering an area of 80,944 square kilometers. Administratively separated from the Serengeti National Park in 1957, it became an independent nature reserve. The area is home to the famous Ngorongoro Crater, the Olduvai Gorge, and the now deep Empakai Crater. The crater area has steep mountains, lush forests, and abundant water sources, making it suitable for the breeding and habitat of a wide variety of wildlife, including rhinos, elephants, lions, and leopards, with a total population of over 40,000 animals.

Heritage Name: Ngorongoro Conservation Area

English Name: Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Inscription Year: 1979 (expanded scope in 2010)

Selection Criteria: Cultural Heritage (iv), Natural Heritage (vii)(viii)(ix)(x)

Geographic Location: S3 11 13.992 E35 32 26.988

Heritage No.: 39bis

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, located in the northern part of the Republic of Tanzania, was inscribed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage site in 1979. The Maasai pastoralists have lived in the crater area for generations. The Tanzanian government has invested significant human and material resources to protect the wildlife in this area.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the most complete crater in the world, with an altitude of 2286 meters. Ngorongoro was an active volcano 8 million years ago. The bottom of the crater, professionally known as a caldera, is a large depression formed by the collapse of the volcanic cone into the volcanic well, covering an area of 160 square kilometers. Along the outer edge of the crater, there are six peaks above 3000 meters in altitude.

In 1979, according to the criteria for cultural heritage selection (iv) and natural heritage selection (vii)(viii)(ix)(x), the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was approved by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee as a cultural and natural dual heritage site to be included in the "World Heritage List". The evaluation report: the 3rd session of the World Heritage Committee report. In 2010, at the 34th World Heritage Conference held in Brazil, the scope was expanded.

The vast and complete Ngorongoro Crater is a place where wildlife abounds, with the deep waters of the Empakai Crater and the Gelai active volcano nearby. Excavations in the Olduvai Valley not far from here have discovered the site of one of humanity's ancestors, the habilis, and the Laetoli site is also within this area, which was a major area of primitive human activity over 3.6 million years ago.