UNESCO Heritage Sites

Niokolo Koba National Park is located in a well-watered area along the banks of the Gambia River, the gallery forests and savannahs of Niokolo Koba National Park have a very rich fauna, among them Derby elands, chimpanzees, lions, leopards and a large population of elephants, as well as many birds, reptiles and amphibians. It is characterized by its group of ecosystems typical of this region, over an area of 913 000ha. Watered by large waterways (the Gambia, Sereko, Niokolo, Koulountou), it comprises gallery forests, savannah grass floodplains, ponds, dry forests -- dense or with clearings -- rocky slopes and hills and barren Bowés. This remarkable plant diversity justifies the presence of a rich fauna characterized by: the Derby Eland (the largest of African antelopes), chimpanzees, lions, leopards, a large population of elephants as well as many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians. Continent: Africa Country: Senegal Category: Danger List Criterion: (X) Date of ...

Bassari Country: Bassari, and Bedik Cultural Landscapes is situated in the south east of Senegal. It includes three geographic areas: the Bassari – Salémata area, the Bedik – Bandafassi area and the Fula – Dindéfello area, each with its specific morphological traits. The Bassaris, Fulas and Bediks peoples settled from the 11th to the 19th centuries and developed specific cultures and habitats symbiotic with their surrounding natural environment. The Bassari landscape is marked by terraces and rice paddies, interspersed with villages, hamlets and archaeological sites. Continent: Africa Country: Senegal Category: Cultural Criterion: (III)(V) (VI) Date of Inscription: 2012

Fishing and shellfish gathering have sustained human life in the 5,000 km2 properties, which is formed by the arms of three rivers. The site comprises brackish channels encompassing over 200 islands and islets, mangrove forest, an Atlantic marine environment, and dry forest. The site is marked by 218 shellfish mounds, some of them several hundred metres long, produced by its human inhabitants over the ages. Burial sites on 28 of the mounds take the form of tumuli where remarkable artefacts have been found. They are important for our understanding of cultures from the various periods of the delta's occupation and testify to the history of human settlement along the coast of West Africa. Continent: Africa Country: Senegal Category: Cultural Criterion: (III)(IV) (V) Date of Inscription: 2011

Wassu stone circles Gambia consists of four large groups of stone circles that represent an extraordinary concentration of over 1,000 monuments in a band 100 km wide along some 350 km of the River Gambia. The four groups, Sine Ngayène, Wanar, Wassu and Kerbatch, cover 93 stone circles and numerous tumuli, burial mounds, some of which have been excavated to reveal material that suggest dates between 3rd century BC and 16th century AD. Together the stone circles of laterite pillars and their associated burial mounds present a vast sacred landscape created over more than 1,500 years. Stone circles of Senegambia reflect a prosperous highly organized and lasting society. Continent: Africa Country: Gambia, Senegal Category: Cultural Criterion: (I)(III) Date of Inscription: 2003