Ferlo Desert
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The Ferlo Desert, also known as the Ferio Desert, is a
desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...
in northern-central
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
. It is inhabited by the Serer and the
Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people are an ethnic group in Sahara, Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. Inhabiting many countries, they live mainly in West Africa and northern parts of Central Africa, South Sudan, Darfur, ...
.


Geography and landscape

The Ferlo Desert occupies an area of some 70,000 km2, over one-third of the country's total area. It forms part of the region of Djourbel which extends to within 45 miles (70 km) to the east of
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
to the west and south of
St Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, known as "Baol" to the locals. The
Senegal River The Senegal River ( or "Senegal" - compound of the  Serer term "Seen" or "Sene" or "Sen" (from  Roog Seen, Supreme Deity in Serer religion) and "O Gal" (meaning "body of water")); , , , ) is a river in West Africa; much of its length mark ...
flows through the region, and valleys occur in the Sine Saloum Delta north of
The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...
. There are expansive plains and sand dunes, with scattered rocks and small valleys with clay soils in which small water bodies form. The plain is crossed by the courses of numerous tributaries of the Senegal River, which for most of the year are dry and fill with water only occasionally during the rainy season (July to September). The climate is very dry, characterised by a long dry season (which lasts for nine months a year), with winds from the very dry
Sahara Desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...
. The wet season, in the period from July to September, is short and brings irregular rainfall brought by the humid air masses from the
Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea (French language, French: ''Golfe de Guinée''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Golfo de Guinea''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Golfo da Guiné'') is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez i ...
. Due to the arid climate the region is sparsely populated; the area was also plagued by drought in the early 1970s and again in 1983–1984.
Linguère Linguère (or Lingeer in SererKlein, Martin A. "Islam and Imperialism in Senegal Sine-Saloum, 1847–1914." Edinburgh University Press (1968) pp 11-15 & 262 and Wolof) is a town and urban commune located in the Linguère Department, Louga Re ...
, with nearly 13,000 inhabitants, is the largest town in this region.
Desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...
has also contributed to a regional population decline. The semi-desert zone of the Ferlo is known for its
baobab ''Adansonia'' is a genus of medium-to-large deciduous trees known as baobabs ( or ). The eight species of ''Adansonia'' are native to Africa, Australia, and Madagascar but have also been introduced to other regions of the world, including Barb ...
trees. Leguminous plants such as ''
Zornia glochidiata ''Zornia glochidiata'' is a leguminous herb of the Fabaceae family, it is widely distributed in the Sahel regions of West Africa. It is reputed to be an important forage plant in the region. Morphology It is an annual herb An annual plant i ...
'' and ''
Alysicarpus ovalifolius ''Alysicarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is distributed in tropics, tropical and subtropics, subtropical regionsChavan, S., et al. (2012)''Alysicarpus sanjappae'' (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae), a new speci ...
'' and
Graminaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...
such as ''
Cenchrus biflorus ''Cenchrus biflorus'' is a species of annual grass in the family Poaceae. Common names include Indian sandbur, ''Bhurat'' or ''Bhurut'' in India, ''Haskaneet'' in Sudan, ''Aneeti'' in the Arabic dialect of Mauritania, ''K 'arangiya'' in the Hau ...
'', ''
Dactyloctenium aegyptium ''Dactyloctenium aegyptium'', or Egyptian crowfoot grass is a member of the family Poaceae native to Africa and Asia. The plant mostly grows in heavy soils at damp sites. Description This grass creeps and has a straight shoot which are usuall ...
'', ''
Chloris prieurii In Greek mythology, the name Chloris (; Greek Χλωρίς ''Chlōrís'', from χλωρός ''chlōrós'', meaning "greenish-yellow", "pale green", "pale", "pallid", or "fresh") appears in a variety of contexts. Some clearly refer to different ch ...
'', '' Eragrotis tremula'', ''
Aristida mutabilis ''Aristida'' is a very nearly cosmopolitan genus of plants in the grass family. ''Aristida'' is distinguished by having three awns (bristles) on each lemma of each floret. The genus includes about 300 species found worldwide, often in arid war ...
'' and '' Schonefeldia gracilis'' have been observed. The national reserves
Ferlo Nord Wildlife Reserve The Ferlo Nord Wildlife Reserve (), established in 1971, is a IUCN habitat and species protected nature reserve located in Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlant ...
(Réserve de faune du Ferlo Nord) (RFFN) and
Ferlo Sud Wildlife Reserve The Ferlo Sud Wildlife Reserve (), established in 1972, is a IUCN habitat and species protected nature reserve located in Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlan ...
(Réserve de faune du Ferlo Sud) (RFFS) lie within the Ferlo desert region. Ferlo Nord Wildlife Reserve, established in 1971, covers an area of . Ferlo Sud Wildlife Reserve was established the following year, and is a little larger at .


Economy

This region of Senegal is destitute, and living conditions are difficult. The population are mainly engaged in ranching. The main crops cultivated are
millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
,
cowpea The cowpea (''Vigna unguiculata'') is an annual herbaceous legume from the genus '' Vigna''. Its tolerance for sandy soil and low rainfall have made it an important crop in the semiarid regions across Africa and Asia. It requires very few inpu ...
s,
peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...
s,
watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...
s and
squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...
and
Acacia gum Gum arabic (gum acacia, gum sudani, Senegal gum and by other names) () is a tree gum exuded by two species of ''Acacia sensu lato:'' ''Senegalia senegal,'' and '' Vachellia seyal.'' However, the term "gum arabic" does not indicate a particul ...
. The natural grasslands of the desert have undergone change. Until the mid-1950s the region "was visited by people and livestock only during the rainy season and at the very beginning of the dry season (July to November)." In 1953, J. G. Adam noted that the "groundnut cultivation has transformed the natural vegetation on sandy soils, to note, even at a distance from the water points, a climax, subclimax vegetation which has not been disrupted by cultivation, and hardly changed by grazing, since this has occurred only, until recent years, during the four summer months, where the vegetation is dense and close to standing water." From the mid-1950s, boreholes were drilled and began to provide water to areas of the desert, which enabled pastureland to be used by the farmers all year round. By 1955, fifty wells were reported along the main trek routes to be providing water. Under better conditions, the population of livestock in the desert increased; by the 1990s, it supported livestock herding, cited as "a continuous extension of the desert steppe into the savanna" but one which was "not rich enough to attract herders from the north of the enegalriver." Between 1969 and 1972, the "Study of Natural Pastureland in Northern Senegal" was conducted, assessing the borehole development in the desert and found that the boreholes were still on average 25–30 km apart, which meant that exploitation of land was generally restricted to a 5 km radius of them. Spate irrigation has since developed in the region, and temporary ponds may cover an area of several hectares during the wet season from July to October.


References

{{Authority control Deserts of Senegal