Niumi National Park is a national park in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. The occupies the coastal strip in the northern region of the country, in the southern tip of the Sine-Saloum Delta. It covers an area of approximately 4,940 ha (49.4 square km) and encompasses a range of types of wetlands and vegetation, from freshwater marsh to sand spits and brackish lagoons. ''

Rhizophora ''Rhizophora'' is a genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves. The most notable species is the red mangrove (''Rhizophora mangle'') but some other species and a few natural hybrids are known. ''Rhizophora'' ...

'' mangrove forest is abundant in the park, and its swamp and mudflats are an important sheltering ground for birds, with over 200 species found here.

Geography

Niumi National Park occupies the coastal strip in the southern tip of the Sine-Saloum Delta. The park, which lies in the North Bank Region, is approximately 4,940 ha (49.4 square km) in extent. The Gambia declared its portion of the

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

as a national park in 1986. In the north of the park, in the southern part of the delta is Jinack island and many small islands.

Fauna and flora

Regionally, the park forms part of the Western Africa Marine ecoregion. It encompasses a range of types of wetlands and vegetation, from freshwater marsh to sand spits and brackish lagoons. ''

'' mangrove forest is abundant in the park, and scrub forest is found on Jinack Island and Mbankam spit. The Atlantic coast is heavily populated with '' Sterna dougallii''. The swamp and mudflats are an important sheltering ground for birds, with over 200 species found here. 293 species from 63 families have been recorded of

avifauna 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 lightweight s ...

. Many species found in the park are vulnerable or endangered including the

Green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

, Humpback dolphin,

Red Colobus Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus ''Piliocolobus''. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus ''Procolobus'', which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus monke ...

and

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...

s such as '' Trichechus senegalensis''. In the forested areas of the park, there are significant populations of

Patas monkey The common patas monkey (''Erythrocebus patas''), also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa. Taxonomy There is some confusion surrounding ...

(''Erythrocebus patas''),

Vervet Monkey The vervet monkey (''Chlorocebus pygerythrus''), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus ''Chlorocebus''. The five distinct ...

(''Cercopithecus aethiops''), Spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), and

warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly co ...

(''Phacochoerus africanus'').

References

{{authority control National parks of the Gambia Protected areas established in 1987 Ramsar sites in the Gambia Lower Niumi