Gambia The Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

deforestation due to slash-and-burn agriculture; desertification; water pollution; water-borne diseases

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November); cooler, dry season (November to May)

Land use

agricultural land: 56.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 41% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.5% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 14.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 43.9% (2018 est.)

other: 0% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 64.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.75% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

2.47% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 39.1 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.53 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 1.96 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 193,441 tons (2002 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Gambia river mouth (shared with Senegal and Guinea [s]) - 1,094 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major aquifers

Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 40 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 40 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

8 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)