Saloum Delta or Sine-Saloum Delta is a
river delta in
Senegal at the mouth of the
Saloum River where it flows into the North Atlantic Ocean. The delta covers 180,000
hectares.
It extends 72.5
kilometers along the coastline and 35 kilometers inland.
In 2011, a 145,811-hectare portion of the delta was designated a
UNESCO World Heritage site. The site contains "brackish channels encompassing over 200 islands and islets,
mangrove forest
Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...
, an Atlantic marine environment, and dry forest."
covers 76,000 hectares of the delta.
The bird species that breed or winter in the area include
royal tern
The royal tern (''Thalasseus maximus'') is a tern in the family Laridae. The species is endemic to the Americas, though strays have been identified in Europe.Buckley, P. A. and F. G. Buckley (2020). Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus), version 1.0. ...
,
greater flamingo,
Eurasian spoonbill,
curlew sandpiper,
ruddy turnstone, and
little stint. Aside from being a valued breeding ground for
birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
, the delta contains 218 shellfish mounds and artefacts unearthed at some 28 of the burial grounds have provided an important insight into the history of human occupation in the area.
References
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World Heritage Sites in Senegal
Geography of Senegal
Ramsar sites in Senegal