Banc d’arguin National Park
Fringing the Atlantic coast, the park comprises sand dunes, coastal swamps, small islands and shallow coastal waters. The contrast between the harsh desert environment and the biodiversity of the marine zone has resulted in a landscape and seascape of outstanding natural significance. A wide variety of migratory birds spend the winter there. Several species of sea turtle and dolphin, used by the fishermen to attract shoals of fish, can also be found.
The park is one of the most important zones in the world for nesting birds and Palearctic migratory waders, and is an ecosystem rich in biodiversity of nutrients and organic matter due to the vast expanse of marshes covered with seagrass beds, and an important windblown sediment addition from the continent and the result of the permanent upwelling of the Cap Blanc. This wealth ensures the maintenance of a marine and coastal environment sufficiently rich and diverse to support important communities of fish, birds and marine mammals.
The park comprises the most important habitat of the Western Atlantic for nesting birds of West Africa and the Palearctic migratory waders. The vast expanses of marshes provide shelter to more than 2 million limicolous migrant birds from northern Europe, Siberia and Greenland. The nesting bird population is also remarkable in terms of diversity and number: between 25,000 and 40,000 pairs belonging to 15 bird species. The shallows and island area are also the center of intense biological activity: there are 45 fish species, 11 species of shellfish and several species of mollusks.