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Protecting threatened ecosystems: Arguin Bank National Park

The Arguin Bank National Park, located on Mauritania’s Atlantic Coast, has been inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1989. Created in 1976, the region became the country’s first national park. The site encompasses three main zones: a vast stretch of low-lying land consisting of sand dunes and desert zones, coastal marsh areas and shallow coastal waters. The park is home to a wide variety of biotopes, from vast seagrass beds to mangrove forests and virtually arid desert. The land area is dominated by Sahara-type vegetation with a Mediterranean influence. Of the approximately seven million birds using the Atlantic migration flyways, it is estimated that around 30% spend the winter in the Arguin Bank. The site is home to a number of rare and threatened species. Several of the islands contain archaeological sites from the Neolithic Period and the remnants of Almoravid civilisation. The 600-strong Imraguen tribe has preserved its ancestral customs and subsists mostly on fishing. Jaeger-LeCoultre invites you to discover the photo and video reports on the Arguin Bank National Park by clicking here. You can also find out more about all the marine sites supported under the “Tides of Time” partnership, and re-read the articles in the International Herald Tribune. Take another look at the interviews with Jérôme Lambert, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, and with Francesco Bandarin, Director of UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, on our official Youtube channel. 2010 marks the third year of the partnership between Jaeger-LeCoultre, the International Herald Tribune and UNESCO. This partnership has already seen the realisation of several ambitious projects: - The promotion of protected sites to raise public awareness; - The recruitment of a co-ordinator for the marine programme implemented by the World Heritage Centre; - The development of a watch specifically for the partnership, the Master Compressor Extreme W-Alarm Tides of Time; - Auctions with the proceeds going to endangered sites; etc. Jaeger-LeCoultre has already held two auctions on its website. All the proceeds (13,540 GBP and 12,600 GBP) have been donated to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, such as the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and the Sundarbans National Park. This donation has enabled Tubbataha to purchase a radar system to control traffic in the Park’s waters. Finally, through the support of Jaeger-LeCoultre and the International Herald Tribune, the first international conference to bring together the management of marine sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List has been organised in Hawaii (USA) from 1 to 3 December 2010. Copyright @ HELLIO & VAN INGEN