The Côte Aftissate-Boujdour is a Ramsar Site that stretches along of the

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

coast south of Boujdour. It includes the fishing village of

Aftissat Aftissat ( ar, أفتيسات) is a fishing village in the Western Sahara. It is the location of a large onshore wind farm. Location Aftissat is on the Atlantic coast in Boujdour Province of the Western Sahara. The village is on National Road No. ...

Location

The Côte Aftissate-Boujdour is located in

Jraifia Jraifia is a small town and rural commune in the Boujdour Province of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region of the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in t ...

commune,

Boujdour Province Boujdour Province ( ar, إقليم بوجدور) is a province in the Moroccan occupied region of Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, Western Sahara. Its population in 2004 was 46,129. Its major town is Boujdour. Its territory, which is part of Western Sah ...

in the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region. The protected area covers . It extends along the Atlantic coast for . The site was designated on 16 April 2019. Along this section of the coast a beach and mobile dunes separate the sea from a continuous low-lying furrow of land below a high sea cliff.

Ecology

The Côte Aftissate-Boujdour is at the southern edge of the Palearctic ecozone. The climate is strongly influenced by coastal upwelling. The wetland is a resting area for Palearctic seabirds, waders and land migrants, and for

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

s in particular. Over 1% of the biogeographic population of species such as the

lesser black-backed gull The lesser black-backed gull (''Larus fuscus'') is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa. It has increased dramatically in North America, most common alo ...

(''Larus fuscus'') are found in the wetland in winter. The dry area is home to the endemic gecko '' Saurodactylus brosseti'' and other rare and endemic species.

Notes

Sources

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