Diawling National Park was established in 1991 amid great controversy. The park sprawls over an area of 16,000 hectares, all of which was once a floodplain. The Senegal River acts like a boundary between the park and the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, which was established in 1971. The Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary is located in the Republic of Senegal. The opposition to the establishment of the Diawling National Park came mostly from the local inhabitants, who feared a similar fate as that of the populace of Djoudj. They were fearful of the consequences of a protected area, which would mean that grazing and fishing would be prohibited or limited, ending a way of life that their tribes had always known.