Banc d'Arguin National Park
Banc d'Arguin National Park حوض أركين | |
---|---|
IUCN | |
Arab States | |
Official name | Parc National du Banc d'Arguin |
Designated | 22 October 1982 |
Reference no. | 250[1] |
The Banc d'Arguin National Park (
The Banc d'Arguin National Park is a Nature reserve that was established in 1976 to protect both the natural resources and the valuable fisheries, which makes a significant contribution to the national economy,[2] as well as scientifically and aesthetically valuable geological sites, in the interests of and for the recreation of the general public.
The park's vast expanses of
Conservation
The extensive intertidal flats of Parc National du Banc d’Arguin shelters on the most pristine seagrass beds on earth. Human impact is still at its minimum compared to the other intertidal systems along the East Atlantic Flyway. Only a small indigenous community is allowed to fish in the Park boundaries using relatively primitive techniques and tools. No motorized boats are permitted in the area. Over the last decade, however, the international shark/ray market made its way to PNBA. Locals started to target these species even though it is not allowed. It is perhaps the most challenging issue facing conservation in the park.
People
The local population comprises about 500 or so Imraguen tribesmen that live in seven villages within the park. They base their economy on subsistence fishing using traditional methods.
Fauna
The park is host to one of the world's most diversified communities of nesting
Along with the regions in north such as the Cintra Bay and Dakhla Peninsula, the area is one of the most important wintering grounds for Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia leucorodia). Breeding birds include white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus), reed cormorant (Phalacrocorax africanus), gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica), Caspian tern (Hydroprogne caspia), royal tern (Sterna maxima) and common tern (Sterna hirundo), together with several species or subspecies with an African distribution, such as grey heron (Ardea cinerea monicae) and Eurasian spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia balsaci) and western reef heron (Egretta gularis).[4]
For marine mammals, endangered species can be seen here all-year round; for example,
Banc d'Arguin is rich in fish and the rare false shark ray is only known from this region.[12]
Flora
Battering surf and shifting sand banks characterize the entire length of the shoreline. The Ras Nouadhibou (formerly Cap Blanc) peninsula, which forms Dakhlet Nouadhibou (formerly Lévrier Bay) to the east, is fifty kilometers long and up to thirteen kilometers wide. The peninsula is administratively divided between Morocco (see Glossary) and Mauritania, with the Mauritanian port and railhead of Nouadhibou located on the eastern shore (see fig. 11). Dakhlet Nouadhibou, one of the largest natural harbors on the west coast of Africa, is forty-three kilometers long and thirty-two kilometers wide at its broadest point. Fifty kilometers southeast of Ras Nouadhibou is Arguin. In 1455 the first Portuguese installation south of Cape Bojador (in the present-day South Morocco) was established at Arguin. Farther south is the coastline's only significant promontory, seven-meter-high Cape Timiris. From this cape to the marshy area around the mouth of the Senegal River, the coast is regular and marked only by an occasional high dune.
On coastal dunes vegetation is rare. At the foot of ridges, however, large tamarisk bushes, dwarf acacias, and swallowworts may be found. Some high grass, mixed with
Climate
The Coastal Zone, or Sub-Canarian Zone, extends the length of the approximately 754-kilometer-long Atlantic coast. Prevailing oceanic trade winds from the Canary Islands modify the influence of the harmattan, producing a humid but temperate climate. Rainfall here is minimal; in Nouadhibou it averages less than three centimeters annually and occurs between July and September. Temperatures are moderate, varying from mean maxima of 28 °C and 32 °C for Nouadhibou and Nouakchott, respectively, to mean minima of 16 °C and 19 °C.
Geology
The depositional profile of the northern
In the central and southern outermost shelf, silt-sized quartzose materials form confined bodies referred to as the Arguin and Timiris Mud Wedges. These deposits started to form with transgressional inundation early in the Holocene and have grown continuously and rapidly over the past 9 kyrs. Locally, the mud wedge deposits are incised by gullies and canyons towards the shelf break lying at around 80–110m. The southernmost Golfe d'Arguin describes a homoclinal ramp profile with vast intertidal plains around Tidra Island.[14]
History
Because of its rich fishery and strategic location, the territory has been highly coveted and disputed by the European colonial powers of Portugal, France, England, Brandenberg/Prussia and Holland.
1445 – 5 February 1633 | Portuguese rule (Arguim). |
5 February 1633 – 1678 | Dutch rule (brief English occupation in 1665). |
1 September 1678 – September 1678 | French occupation. |
September 1678 | Abandoned. |
5 October 1685 – 7 March 1721 | Brandenburg (from 1701, Prussian) rule. |
7 March 1721 – 11 January 1722 | French rule. |
11 January 1722 – 20 February 1724 | Dutch rule. |
20 February 1724 – March 1728 | French rule. |
- The Wreck of Medusa – La Méduse was a French frigate that ran aground at high tide off Banc d'Arguin on 2 July 1816.
A scene inspired by the account of survivors Alexandre Corréard and Jean-Baptiste-Henri Savigny was made the subject of a painting in 1819 by Théodore Géricault called "The Raft of the Medusa", which is displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
Despite the
With the merger of the Portuguese and Spanish crowns in 1580, the Spaniards became the dominant influence along the coast. In 1638, however, they were replaced by the
The
See also
References
- ^ "Parc National du Banc d'Arguin". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ a b Hoffmann, 1988
- IUCNTechnical Evaluation, 1989
- ^ IUCN, 1987
- ^ Hoyt E. "Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises: A World Handbook for Cetacean Habitat Conservation and Planning". p. 249. Archived from the original on 12 December 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- ]
- ^ "Climate impacts on transocean dispersal and habitat in gray whales from the Pleistocene to 2100 (PDF Download Available)". ResearchGate.
- ^ Blue whale news (2015). "Ten blue whales sighted off Mauritania, probably migrated from Iceland (!)". The Twitter. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ WAEREBEEK V.K.; ANDREi M.; SEQUEIRAi M.; MARTIN V.; ROBINEAU D.; COLLET A.; NDIAYE E.P.V. "Spatial and temporal distribution of the minke Whale,Balaenoptera acutorostrata (Lacépede, 1804), in the southernnortheast Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, With reference to stock identity" (PDF). J. Cetacean Res. Manage. L(3): 223–237. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
- ^ Reichelt M.; Baines M. "Mauritania". Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ Burton C.; Camphuysen C.J.K. "Sea bird and cetacean surveys in the vicinity of the Chinguetti oil field, offshore Mauritania. March, 2003" (PDF). Bowman Bishaw Gorham and Woodside Energy Pty Ltd. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
- PMID 27470765.
- S2CID 128817265.
- S2CID 140614811.
External links
- Official website of Banc d'Arguin Park
- Banc d'Arguin National Park UNESCO Site
- Banc d' Arguin - Google image search results
- Google Earth - Banc d'Arguin National Park - Bookmark & Site Borders Archived 13 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Arguin: A Portuguese fort in Mauritania
- (Video) Watching the Birds, Banc De´Arguin National Park, Mauritania