Sudan

África

321

Documented species

Parks and reserves

Dive sites

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Sudan is organised around the Nile, which forms at Khartoum where the White and Blue Niles meet and crosses the Nubian desert tracing a green corridor through the aridity. To the north and west, Saharan sands and hamada dominate, broken by the volcanic Marra massif in Darfur, which holds enough moisture to support forests and crater lakes. To the southeast, the Dinder plains on the Ethiopian border form a savannah with seasonal pools called mayas where wildlife concentrates in the dry season. The country's natural jewel lies underwater: the Sudanese Red Sea coast keeps some of the most intact reefs in the whole sea, with atolls and shoals that have barely felt tourist pressure.

The nature of Sudan

National animal: The secretarybird, the country's national bird

Did you know?

Dungonab bay, on the Sudanese Red Sea, holds one of the largest dugong populations in the whole sea and a seasonal aggregation of manta rays that gather to filter plankton in shallow water. On those same reefs, Jacques Cousteau installed in 1963 the underwater village Précontinent II, where a team lived for weeks below the surface; part of its structures are still submerged and are now colonised by corals and fish.

Biodiversity profile

Africa Oriental/Nororiental (antes el pais mas grande de Africa, antes de la secesion de Sudan del Sur en 2011)Red de areas protegidas que suma 42.698 km2 de territorio terrestre y 10.662 km2 de area marina

Climate

•Desertico (BWh) en el norte (extension del Sahara)
•Semiarido saheliano (BSh) en el centro
•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en el sur

Main biomes

•Desierto sahariano (norte)
•Sabana saheliana y sudanesa (centro)
•Bosque montano en las Montañas Imatong e Jebel Marra (relictos aislados)
•Arrecife de coral del mar Rojo
•Desierto de Nubia
•Corredor fluvial del Nilo
•Sabana sudanesa con charcas estacionales
•Macizo volcánico de Marra
•Manglar del mar Rojo
•Estepa saheliana

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Costa del Mar Rojo, con arrecifes de coral y areas marinas protegidas incipientes

Flagship wildlife

•Leon africano y elefante (Parque Nacional Dinder)
•Gacela dorcas
•Hiena rayada
•Aves migratorias en los humedales del Nilo
•Dugongo
•Manta gigante
•Tortuga carey
•Pájaro secretario
•Elefante africano de sabana
•León africano
•Antílope ruano
•Cocodrilo del Nilo
•Hipopótamo

Notable endemic species

•Algunas especies de rana endemicas registradas entre los 19 generos de anfibios del pais
•Endemismo concentrado en macizos montañosos aislados como el Jebel Marra y las Montañas Imatong (frontera con Sudan del Sur)

Notable threatened species

•Especies de grandes mamiferos de sabana (leon, elefante) en declive por caza furtiva y perdida de habitat, aunque el Parque Nacional Dinder aun sostiene poblaciones relevantes

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional Dinder (1935, Reserva de la Biosfera 1979, sitio Ramsar 2005, refugio de 27 especies de grandes mamiferos)
•Parque Nacional Radom (suroeste)
•Montañas Imatong y macizo del Jebel Marra
•Parque Nacional Marino de Sanganeb
•Bahía de Dungonab e Isla Mukkawar
•Parque Nacional de Dinder
•Yebel Marra
•Parque Nacional de Radom
•Confluencia de los dos Nilos

Main conservation threats

•Conflicto armado e inestabilidad politica que dificultan la gestion efectiva de areas protegidas
•Sobrepastoreo y avance de la desertificacion en zonas saheliana
•Presion sobre humedales del Nilo por uso agricola

Notable natural phenomena

•El Parque Nacional Dinder, en la frontera con Etiopia, conserva lagos en herradura conocidos localmente como "mayas", formados por meandros abandonados del rio

Conservation

Sanganeb and Dungonab are World Heritage Sites and are considered a refuge of corals resistant to warming. The savannah wildlife of the interior has suffered a severe decline through hunting and agricultural expansion.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Red Sea reefs year-round, with the best visibility between October and May. Dinder between January and April, when wildlife concentrates at the mayas. Dungonab in spring for mantas and dugongs.

Sources: Biology Insights - The Nature of Sudan | BioDB.com - Sudan | WorldAtlas - Ecological Regions of Sudan

Savanna Desert Mountain Ocean

Parks and reserves

Marine National Park

Sanganeb

An isolated coral atoll in the middle of the Red Sea, the only one of its kind, with a British lighthouse at its centre.

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Dinder National Park

Sudan's oldest and largest national park, a key wildlife migration corridor in the East African savannah.

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Diving and snorkelling

Atoll/Wall

Sanganeb Atoll

The only true atoll in the whole Red Sea: a ring reef rising from a bottom of more than 800 m, crowned by a lighthouse. The outer drop-offs have caves and gullies and one of the greatest densities of soft coral in the Red Sea. The north and south plateaux are the classic spots for pelagics.

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Angarosh Reef

A submerged pinnacle with one of the greatest concentrations of hammerhead sharks in the Red Sea, for experienced divers only.

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Pecio Umbria (Wingate Reef)

A cargo and passenger ship of some 150 m built in Hamburg in 1911-1912 and originally named Bahia Blanca. Sold to Italian owners in the 1930s, in June 1940 she was being held at Port Sudan with the Royal Navy about to seize her. On learning that Italy was entering the war, Captain Lorenzo Muiesan staged an emergency drill and scuttled his own ship with her entire cargo. She lies heeled over on her port side, with the davits breaking the surface and the seabed at 36-38 m, which allows very long dives.

View dive site Reef/Wall

Sha'ab Rumi (Cousteau)

A shallow reef with walls dropping some 600 m. On its western face lie the remains of Conshelf II (Précontinent II), the underwater village Jacques Cousteau installed in 1963. The hangar for the 'diving saucers' still stands at around 9 m, alongside shark cages and other equipment. The southern plateau, a tongue of reef running out into open water, is the highlight for pelagics.

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