Saloum Delta National Park, or Parc National du Delta du Saloum in Senegal, is a national park covering 760 square kilometers (190,000 acres). It was created in 1976 and is located in the Saloum Delta, where the Saloum River meets the North Atlantic Ocean.

The park is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar Convention site. It is also within a 1,800 km (440,000-acre) biosphere reserve. Water covers 610 km (150,000 acres) of the park, while intertidal mangroves and saltwater plants cover 70 km (17,000 acres). Savannah and forest areas cover 80 km (20,000 acres). The park lies along the East Atlantic Flyway. Birds that breed or spend the winter in the area include the royal tern, greater flamingo, Eurasian spoonbill, curlew sandpiper, ruddy turnstone, and little stint.

This region shows how nature and human life coexist. The area has rich biodiversity and supports human activities, which are still present but fragile. Sustainable shellfish farming is well-established here and provides an important source of food and income for local people and Senegal as a whole.

The Saloum Delta is located approximately 100 km (62 miles) south of Senegal’s capital, Dakar.

Climate change

In 2022, the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report listed Saloum Delta National Park among African natural heritage sites at risk of flooding and coastal erosion by the end of the century. This risk applies only if climate change follows the RCP 8.5 scenario, which assumes very high and continuing greenhouse gas emissions leading to warming above 4 °C. However, this scenario is now considered unlikely. Other, more likely scenarios predict lower warming and smaller sea level rises. Under all scenarios, sea levels will continue to rise for about 10,000 years. Even if warming is limited to 1.5 °C, global sea levels are expected to rise more than 2–3 meters (7–10 feet) after 2000 years. This rise would exceed the sea level increase projected under RCP 8.5 (~0.75 meters (2 feet), with a range of 0.5–1 meter (2–3 feet)) by the year 4000.