FAO Forestry country profiles - natural woody vegetation

Forest types

Forest cover map

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Map source: Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, base map: ESRI

The above map is an extract from the Global Forest Cover map produced as part of FRA 2000. Please refer to FRA Working Paper 19 for a background to the production of the map.

The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is composed of two distinct geographical parts: the Atlas mountain system in the north, and the Sahara in the south.

Thus, in the north there is the Tell mountain massif, cut up by valleys and plateaux and separated from the Mediterranean by narrow plains. The High Plateau south of the Tell is an area of steppes between 700 and 1 000 m in altitude, encompassing a number of chotts, shallow salt lakes set in wide depressions. The Saharan Atlas borders the south of the High Plateau, joining up with the Tell in the east of the country.

The Sahara stretches south from the Saharan Atlas at heights of under 500 m. This huge desert area is made up for the most part of ergs (dune systems, such as the Great Eastern Erg and Great Western Erg) and regs (stony deserts). Some mountainous areas (the Tassili Plateau, Hoggar Massif and Eglab Plateau) are found in the far south of the country.

Although Algeria's geographical position means that it holds a wide range of biotopes, six relatively homogeneous forested regions can be distinguished on the basis of bioclimate, soil type and altitude:

• the Algerian-Tunisian High Plateau region in the east, with a semi-arid to arid bioclimate (annual rainfall of 300-700 mm), dominated by Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) mixed to varying degrees with holm oak (Quercus ilex). Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) is not found in this zone;
• the Kabylie cork oak (Quercus suber) region in the northeast, with humid and subhumid bioclimates (annual rainfall of 700 to over 1 000 mm), stretching to the Tunisian border in the east, and containing most of the country's cork oak forests as well as the main stands of zeen oak (Quercus faginea), afares oak (Quercus afares) and maritime pine (Pinus pinaster); Atlas cedar is found in a few places (Djurdjura and Babors);
• the Constantine and Aurès Plateaux region to the south of the previous region, with a predominantly semi-arid bioclimate (annual rainfall of 500-700 mm), ranging to subhumid or humid in higher places. Aleppo pine is the main species, while holm oak is found on degraded land;
• the region comprising Ouarsenis, the central Tell and the Algiers area on the Mediterranean coast, bordered on the south by the High Plateaux and with a subhumid climate (annual rainfall of 500-700 mm). Aleppo pine, holm oak and cork oak are the main forest species here;
• the region around Oran, west of the previous region, with a semi-arid bioclimate, containing mainly Aleppo pine in association with thuja (Tetraclinis articulata) and Phoenician juniper (Juniperus phoenicea);
• the Saharan Atlas region, constituting the higher land bordering the northern Sahara, with an arid climate (annual rainfall of 300-500 mm), where Aleppo pine, holm oak and Phoenician juniper are found.

The bulk of the forests are found in the first three regions, or the eastern third of the country. They are Mediterranean in type, with the xerophytic nature of the species becoming more marked nearer the Sahara. They are very varied in character as a result of the wide range of natural environments and the many depredations caused by human occupation.

Algeria's various forests are generally made up of pure stands of one species, and occasionally of mixtures of two or three main species (apart from cork oak-zeen oak or cork oak-maritime pine associations), although there are a number of associations with many secondary species. Conifers, especially Aleppo pine, cover by far the largest area. Cork oak is easily the commonest broadleaved species, followed by holm oak. A huge steppe of alfa (Stipa tenacissima) stretches to the south of the forested regions.

Thus, apart from forests, there are also shrubland, maquis, garrigue, and alfa, esparto (Lygeum spartum) or sagebrush (Artemisia herba alba) steppes, depending on soil type. These are generally degraded forests and cover large areas. Garrigue is found on degraded land on calcareous soil, while shrubland and maquis are found on siliceous soil. Some species are dying out as a result of degradation by humans and animals; for example, Cupressus depreziana is now found only in the Tassili mountains.

The rest of Algeria consists of desert regions (annual rainfall of under 300 mm), with the only tree and shrub formations being found basically in wadi beds and in Saharan mountains above 1 800 m. They consist of small trees and isolated shrubs (e.g. Tamarix) on the edge of wadis, while shrubs and bushes (Tamarix, Acacia, Pistacia atlantica, etc.) are more common in the Saharan mountain zones.