Senegal
Djoudj
Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary covers wetlands habitats that are staging and wintering areas for migrating birds that have just crossed the Sahara.
From September to April, an estimated 1.5 million migrants pass through, joining a dense population of resident breeding birds. Of over 350 species of birds, the most visible are white pelicans and pink flamingos. A wide range of other wildlife also inhabits the park, including jackals, crocodiles, gazelles and manatees.
Community Perspective: The site is best visited on a half-day tour from Saint-Louis, see Jarek’s review for the specifics.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary (ID: 25)
- Country
- Senegal
- Status
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Inscribed 1981
Site history
History of Djoudj
- 1978: Deferred
- Bureau - More info needed on possible dam construction
- 1979: Deferred
- Bureau - lack of documentation or Info
- 1980: Deferred
- 1981: Inscribed
- Inscribed
- 1984: In Danger
- threatened by a large hydro-agricultural project
- 1988: Removed from Danger list
- 2000: In Danger
- Threat by the introduced species Salvinia molesta
- 2006: Removed from Danger list
- WHS Type
- Natural
- Criteria
- vii
- x
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- au-senegal.com — Au Senegal on Djoudj
- parcnationaldjoudj.com — Parc National Djoudj
News Article
- Jan. 28, 2021 theguardian.com — More than 700 pelicans found dead in Djoudj
Community Information
- Community Category
- Wildlife habitat: Fauna
Travel Information
Seasonal WHS
Recent Connections
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Pelicans
"It forms a living but fragile sanctuar… -
Flamingos
Comprised of lakes surrounded by stream… -
Over 300 bird species
365 (Crit X)
Connections of Djoudj
- Geography
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On National Border
On Mauritania border -
Sahel
"semi-arid Sahelian climate" (unep) -
River deltas
Senegal river delta
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- Ecology
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Pelicans
"It forms a living but fragile sanctuary for some 1.5 million birds, such as the white pelican" (Official desciption) -
Crocodiles
Nile crocodile -
Siraneans
African manatee -
Strepsirrhini
Senegal bushbaby -
Over 300 bird species
365 (Crit X) -
Flamingos
Comprised of lakes surrounded by streams, the property is a vital but fragile sanctuary for species such as .. pink flamingo (Brief Description OUV) -
Bird Migrations
Eastern Atlantic Migratory Flyway, Birds
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- World Heritage Process
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Former In Danger List sites
1984-1988 2000-2006 -
Inscribed at third attempt or more
Def 1978, Def 1979, Def 1980, Ins 1981 -
Twice on the endangered list
1984-1988 and 2000-2006
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- WHS on Other Lists
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Ramsar Wetlands
Djoudj, 1977
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- Timeline
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Holocene
A wetland area of lakes, ponds and bayous situated within the Senegal River Delta, which has developed across the Holocene period following a "Marine Transgression" around 5500BP which created a large bay, subsequently filled by sediment brought down by the river. See Section 2.1 and map of changing shoreline here -See portals.iucn.org
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- Visiting conditions
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Seasonal WHS
"The Sanctuary is closed for three months of the year because of the impossibility of moving about during the rainy season" (UNEP-WCMC) / "Ouvert de novembre à juin, meilleure période de décembre à mars." (see link)
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News
- theguardian.com 01/28/2021
- More than 700 pelicans found dead …
Recent Visitors
Visitors of Djoudj
- Alexander Barabanov
- Ali Zingstra
- A. Mehmet Haksever
- Atila Ege
- Boj
- Bram de Bruin
- David Pastor de la Orden
- Els Slots
- Eva Kisgyorgy
- George Gdanski
- GerhardM
- Gianmarco
- Gilles
- Iain Jackson
- Jarek Pokrzywnicki
- Kevin247
- Krijn
- Loic Pedras
- Luis Filipe Gaspar
- Morodhi
- Nihal Ege
- palka25
- Pascal Cauliez
- Philipp Leu
- Roger Ourset
- Roman Bruehwiler
- Rvieira
- SHIHE HUANG
- Stanislaw Warwas
- Szucs Tamas
- Tevity
- Thomas Buechler
- Thomas van der Walt
- tony0001
- Westwards
Community Reviews
Show full reviews
We visited this Site in February 2025. We did it whith an organised tour and booked it at home via a tarvel agency in connection with a Senegalese partner agency.
Several tour agencies in Saint Louis organise daily tours to Djoudj Reserve. The trip usually takes half a day. We started at 07 00 am and finished around 14 00 p.m. But you have to consider that the boat in Djoudi wait till the boat is full (ore almost) with tourists before it starts.
The National Park is around 60 km from Saint Louis town (40 km is a good asphalted road, while the rest is on dirt, local roads. It takes about 90 mininutes.
When you are lucky, as we have been, you can discover some hundreds of pink Flamigos a short time before the entrance to the park.
At the park entrance you have official state prices for everything: guide (obligatory, French and English speaking) boat trip entrance fee per person . To reduce costs a little bit you can skip the boat trip and go for walking in the park but that is not recommended as the boat trip is the most interesting part of park visiting.
The most interesting areas are those near the end of boat trip where the majority of migrating birds are located. View of thousands of pelicans (old and young, which are much darker) herons, different types of egrets, cormorants, king fisher is truelly amazing. The best …
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Banc d'Arguin, which I visited earlier on this trip, and Djoudj Bird Sanctuary are crucial for conserving migratory waterbirds in West Africa. Banc d'Arguin is particularly important as a wintering site, while Djoudj is known for its breeding colonies. Another difference with Banc d’Arguin is that it isn’t coastal but an inland wetland centered around a lake. It is more focused on flamingoes and pelicans instead of waders.
I went there with a driver from Saint-Louis. The journey is best done with a 4WD as the road is mostly unpaved and has lots of potholes, but we encountered a few regular orange taxis as well (they will drive very slowly). We managed to reach the park entrance after 1h15mins. Along the way, the driver pointed out the rice fields (now dry but functional in the summer months), the Peul villages, and the Mauritanian fishermen crossing the Senegal River that forms the border. We also saw our first animals – a troop of patas monkeys crossing the road.
Upon entering the park we passed a lake with groups of flamingoes – we wouldn’t see this species again. After the park formalities (one has to pay for the car and for the foreign tourist), another 20 min drive remained to the boat landing. Here I joined two French couples and a bird guide in a small but covered motorboat. Our first pelicans were floating around this pool of water already.
It turned out that the Great White Pelicans are …
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Site visited recently (April, 2018). It is one of those places that are easier to visit with an organised tour than alone mostly due to cost reason.
Several tour agencies in Saint Louis organise daily tours to Djoudj Reserve. Prices are around 30.000 CFA per person for the group of minimum 4 tourists. The trip usually takes half a day starting around 8.00 am and finishing aproximately at 15.00 - 16.00. To have a better understanding - CFA has mostly fixed rate to Euro (655 CFA, it was the same when being in 2014 in Burkina Faso)
If want to visit the place independently (which I did) you shoul be prepared for some huge costs. First of all is transportation - as it is around 60 km from Saint Louis town (25 km is a good asphalted road, while the rest is on dirt, local, not necessarily 4x4). The costs for this part (including waiting time in the park) is 25.000 CFA (unfortunately this amount is stated in Lonely Planet guidebook as an indicator, so it is quite difficult to negotiate the price but anyway try). At the park entrance you have official state prices for everything: guide (obligatory, although only French speaking) 6.000 CFA per group, boat trip 4.000 CFA per group, entrance fee per person 5.000 CFA, entrance fee for the car 10.000 CFA. So as you see depending on the number of people the trip may be somehow expensive. To reduce costs a little bit you can …
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Djoudj National Park is famous for its birds. I visited the park in april 2014 and a lot of birds still were there; we did it with a day trip from ST. Louis. Than we did a three hour boat trip on the water. Besides birds we saw warthogs, varanes and crocodiles. After that we did a trip with our bus to look for more birds from lookouts, but this was a disappointment.
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