Isle of Pines (New Caledonia) Isle of Pines (New Caledonia) The Isle of Pines (; name in Kanak language Kwênyii: ') is an island located in the Pacific Ocean, in the archipelago of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France. The island is part of the commune (municipality) of L'Île-des-Pins, in the South Province of New Caledonia. The Isle of Pines is nicknamed ' ("the closest island to Paradise"). The island is around and measures by . It lies southeast of Grande Terre, New Caledonia's main island and is southeast of the capital Nouméa. There is one airport (code ILP) with a runway. The Isle
Biodiversity of New Caledonia while 27 are considered extinct. The Gymnosperms are more common on exposed ridges or next to rivers or creeks in floodplains. Their concentration is important at individual locations which provide lifesaving refugia, because environmental conditions make interspecific competition less severe. Four genera, "Araucaria", "Libocedrus", "Prumnopitys" and "Retrophyllum" that populate the subantarctic Pacific, have endemic species in New Caledonia. The genus "Acmopyle" (Podocarpaceae), currently present in New Caledonia and Fiji, is a fossil in Patagonia. There are 13 endemic species of "Araucaria", including "A. rulei" and "A. columnaris". The island shares some "Araucaria" species with Australia's Norfolk Island. Many, if not