List of World Heritage Sites in Niger

Air and Ténéré

W-Arly-Pendjari Complex

Agadez

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Location 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[edit]

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]

World Heritage Sites

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[edit]

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]

Tentative sites

Site	Image	Location (region)	Year listed	UNESCO criteria	Description
Old City of Zinder, Birni district and the Sultanate		Zinder Region	Cultural		2006	[10]
Palace of the Zarmakoye of Dosso		Dosso Region	Cultural		2006	[11]
Earthen Mosques of the Tahoua Region		Tahoua Region	Cultural		2006	[12]
Salt Route of the Sahara Desert		Agadez Region	Cultural		2006	[13]
Plateau and Fortifications of Djado		Agadez Region	Cultural (i) (ii)		2006	[14]
Bura Archaeological Site		Tillaberi Region		2006	[15]
Lougou Site		Dosso Region	Cultural		2006	[16]
Giraffe Zone		Dosso Region, Tillaberi Region	Natural (ix)		2006	[17]
Termit Massif		Diffa Region, Zinder Region	Natural (vii)		2006	[18]
Gadabedji Faunal Reserve		Maradi Region	Natural (ix)		2006	[19]
Protected Forests of the Agadez Region		Agadez Region	Natural (vii) (x)		2006	[20]
Mare d’Ossolo		Tillaberi Region	Natural (ix)		2006	[21]
Nigerien part of Lake Chad		Diffa Region	Natural (vii)		2006	[22]
Niger River, islands and valley		Dosso Region, Niamey Region, Tillaberi Region	Mixed (vii) (ix)		2006	[23]
W National Park, archaeological sites		Tillaberi Region	Cultural (i) (iii) (iv)		2006	[24]
Air and Ténéré Natural Reserves, cultural extension		Agadez Region	Cultural		2006	[25]
Dinosaur deposits of Niger		Agadez Region	Mixed (ix)		2006	[26]
The Classified Forest, the Madarounfa Lake and the Tombs of the 99 saints		Maradi Region	Mixed (vii)		2006	[27]
Lake Chad cultural landscape		Diffa Region	Mixed (ii) (iii) (vii) (ix)		2018	[28]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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