List of World Heritage Sites in Niger
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.[1] Cultural heritage consists of monuments (such as architectural works, monumental sculptures, or inscriptions), groups of buildings, and sites (including archaeological sites). Natural features (consisting of physical and biological formations), geological and physiographical formations (including habitats of threatened species of animals and plants), and natural sites which are important from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty, are defined as natural heritage.[2] Niger accepted the convention on December 23, 1974, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list.[3] There are three World Heritage Sites in Niger, one of them W-Arly-Pendjari Complex it's shared with Benin and Burkina Faso.[4]
World Heritage Sites
UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural.[5]
Site | Image | Location (region) | Year listed | UNESCO data | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves | ![]() | Agadez | Natural (vii) (ix) (x) | 1991 | This is the largest protected area in Africa, covering some 7.7 million ha, though the area considered a protected sanctuary constitutes only one-sixth of the total area. It includes the volcanic rock mass of the Aïr, a small Sahelian pocket, isolated as regards its climate and flora and fauna, and situated in the Saharan desert of Ténéré. The reserves boast an outstanding variety of landscapes, plant species and wild animals.[6] |
W-Arly-Pendjari Complex | ![]() | Tillabéri | Natural (ix) (x) | 1996 | This transnational extension (Benin, Burkina Faso) to the W National Park of Niger, inscribed in 1996 on the World Heritage List, cover a major expanse of intact Sudano-Sahelian savannah, with vegetation types including grasslands, shrub lands, wooded savannah and extensive gallery forests. It includes the largest and most important continuum of terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic ecosystems in the West African savannah belt. The property is a refuge for wildlife species that have disappeared elsewhere in West Africa or are highly threatened. It is home to the largest population of elephants in West Africa and most of the large mammals typical of the region, such as the African Manatee, cheetah, lion and leopard. It also harbours the only viable population of lions in the region.[7] |
Historic Centre of Agadez | ![]() | Agadez | Cultural (ii) (iii) | 2013 | Known as the gateway to the desert, Agadez, on the southern edge of the Sahara desert, developed in the 15th and 16th centuries when the Sultanate of Aïr was established and Touareg tribes were sedentarized in the city, respecting the boundaries of old encampments, which gave rise to a street pattern still in place today. The historic centre of the city, an important crossroads of the caravan trade, is divided into 11 quarters with irregular shapes. They contain numerous earthen dwellings and a well-preserved group of palatial and religious buildings including a 27m high minaret made entirely of mud brick, the highest such structure in the world. The site is marked by ancestral cultural, commercial and handicraft traditions still practiced today and presents exceptional and sophisticated examples of earthen architecture.[8] |
Tentative list
In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.[9] Niger maintains 19 properties on its tentative list.[3]
References
- ^ "The World Heritage Convention". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ^ "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- ^ a b "Niger". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Niger". UNESCO. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "UNESCO World Heritage Centre The Criteria for Selection". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^ "Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO) license.
- ^ "W-Arly-Pendjari Complex". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO) license.
- ^ "Historic Centre of Agadez". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO) license.
- ^ "Tentative Lists". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 24 September 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
- ^ "Old City of Zinder, Birni district and the Sultanate". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Palace of the Zarmakoye of Dosso". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Earthen Mosques of the Tahoua Region". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Salt Route of the Sahara Desert". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Plateau and Fortifications of Djado". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Bura Archaeological Site". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Lougou Site". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Giraffe Zone". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Termit Massif". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Gadabedji Faunal Reserve". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Protected Forests of the Agadez Region". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Mare d'Ossolo". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Nigerien part of Lake Chad". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Niger River, islands and valley". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "W National Park, archaeological sites". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves, cultural extension". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Dinosaur deposits of Niger". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "The Classified Forest, the Madarounfa Lake and the Tombs of the 99 saints". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ "Lake Chad cultural landscape". UNESCO World Heritage Centre (in French). Retrieved 2023-11-20.
External links
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