Wildlife Photography Hides in New Caledonia

New Caledonia is one of the Pacific's most biodiverse territories — a French collectivity whose 18,000 km² of land holds more endemic plant species per unit area than anywhere on Earth, alongside a remarkable endemic avifauna anchored by the Kagu, one of the world's most extraordinary birds. The Kagu — flightless, fog-grey, and found only in New Caledonian forest — is the territory's national symbol and flagship photography target; Rivière Bleue Provincial Park is the most reliable site, where territorial pairs call at dawn from dense forest paths and can be approached to within metres with a patient guide. New Caledonia's Lagoons were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, encompassing the world's second-largest coral reef after Australia's Great Barrier Reef; the lagoon shelters one of the Pacific's largest Dugong populations (around 2,000 individuals). Philippe Barrière is the territory's most experienced wildlife guide, specialising in Kagu and forest endemic photography.