Niumi Biosphere Reserve

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, inscribed 2024, in Gambia. Stretching along the north bank of the Gambia River and adjoining Senegal’s Delta de Saloum Biosphere Reserve, Niumi includes extensive mangroves along the coast and riverbanks. Downstream, striking red limestone formations punctuate tropical forest and open savannah woodland. The reserve safeguards some of West Africa’s last relatively pristine mangrove forests, alongside the Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve and state forests. It also encompasses a Ramsar site and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kunta Kinteh Island, which was a key site of the transatlantic slave trade. Key livelihoods include farming and fisheries. It is the first biosphere reserve designated in The Gambia.