Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes

Bassari Country: Bassari, Fula and Bedik Cultural Landscapes is a serial cultural property in southeastern Senegal that comprises landscapes shaped by the Bassari, Fula and Bedik peoples. It represents traditional settlement, farming and ritual systems in a hilly, savanna-woodland environment.

The landscapes have been occupied and shaped by Bassari, Fula and Bedik communities for generations, preserving patterns of transhumance, terrace agriculture and ritual practice. Land use and settlement forms evolved in response to local ecology and social organization rather than as a result of a single founding event.

The property is located in the Kédougou region of southeastern Senegal, near the border with Guinea, occupying hilly terrain and valleys that distinguish it from the surrounding plains.

• Living cultural landscapes: The property documents living cultural landscapes where settlement patterns, terraced agriculture and ritual sites remain integral to social identity; local communities continue traditional agricultural and ceremonial practices.

What to See #

• Three cultural landscapes: The Bassari landscape area covers distinct cultural zones associated with Bassari, Fula and Bedik peoples, each containing villages, agricultural terraces and ritual sites embedded in a hilly, savanna-woodland environment.
• Bassari landscape: Bassari areas are known for hilltop villages and ritual terraces that structure farming and settlement across sloping terrain.
• Bedik landscape: Bedik areas include steep, rocky terrain with compact villages and terraced fields adapted to the local microclimate.
• Fula landscape: Fula-associated zones include transhumant routes and settlements that reflect pastoral and mixed-farming practices.