Good practice destination Saloum Delta

Contributor dienuz
Country Senegal
Keywords
  • EXCELLENCE
  • UNESCO
Postal address Guira, Senegal
Webpage http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1359
Release date 30/03/2018
Landscape type Protected
Topics
Marketplace category Certified Green: Attractions Certified Green: Attractions
Type Best Practice Destination (Best Practice Destination)
See all locations on the map
All versions
# File name Contributor Release date Uploaded by Upload date Size Content type

Fishing and shellfish gathering have sustained human life in the 5,000 km2 property, 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 hundreds 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.