Mauritania Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

overgrazing, deforestation, and soil erosion aggravated by drought are contributing to desertification; limited natural freshwater resources away from the Senegal, which is the only perennial river; locust infestation

Environment - international agreements

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

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty

Land use

agricultural land: 38.5% (2018 est.)

arable land: 0.4% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 38.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 0.2% (2018 est.)

other: 61.3% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 57.7% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.84% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

widespread lack of access:due to high food prices - according to the latest analysis, nearly 695,000 people are projected to be in need of humanitarian assistance during the June to August 2023 lean season; this would be an improvement compared to the previous year, mostly due to the substantial cereal production increase in 2022; high food prices continue to worsen food security, while flooding in 2022, which affected about 54,000 people, has further aggravated the conditions of vulnerable households (2023)

Revenue from forest resources

1.3% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 41.98 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 2.74 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 6.16 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 454,000 tons (2009 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 36,320 tons (2009 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 8% (2009 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Senegal river mouth (shared with Guinea [s], Senegal and Mali) - 1,641 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 sq km), Senegal (456,397 sq km)

Major aquifers

Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin, Taodeni-Tanzerouft Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 30 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 1.2 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

11.4 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)