Parc National du Banc d'Arguin

Les populations de limicole dans l’interface désert-océan
Les bancs et chenaux en basse marée

Parc National du Banc d'Arguin

  • Country: 
    Mauritania
  • Site number: 
    250
  • Area: 
    1,200,000 ha
  • Designation date: 
    22-10-1982
  • Coordinates: 
    20°49'N 16°45'W
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

Banc d'Arguin. 22/10/82; 1,200,000 ha; 20°50'N 016°45'W. World Heritage Site; National Park. On the western fringe of the Sahara, the Banc d'Arguin accounts for more than one third of the country's entire coastline and as one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, owing to the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich waters. The wetlands are composed of extensive, shallow marine areas, scattered islands, intertidal sand banks, mudflats, channels, creeks and relict mangrove forest. Mudflats support vast beds of seagrass housing a rich invertebrate fauna (especially molluscs and crustaceans) and are important high-tide feeding or nursery areas for commercially-important deep sea fish. Large flocks of shorebirds forage at low tide and over two million winter here. Other notable fauna include a variety of marine mammals, marine turtles, and an endangered seal species. Ramsar site no. 250. Most recent RIS information: 1999.

Administrative region: 
Wilaya de Dakhlet Nouadhibou

  • Global international designation: 
    • World Heritage site
  • National legal designation: 
    • national park - Parc National du Banc d'Arguin
  • Last publication date: 
    01-01-1999

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

Archived RIS