GIAHS pilot systems and sites
Oases of the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia)
Countries and locations:
Algeria: Mzab, Ghardaïa
Morocco: Tamegroute
Tunisia: Gafsa
Project titles: “Date palm oases of the Maghreb: bio-intensive bounded landscapes”
Algeria: “Rehabilitation of ecosystem and livelihood functions in the Oases Béni-Isguen”
Morocco: “Conservation and valorisation of agricultural and associated cultural heritage of Tamegroute oases agro-ecosystem in Southern Morocco”
Tunisia: “Assessing and conserving the value of the historic-agricultural landscape of the Gafsa Oases.”
Proponent/ requesting agency: IPGRI
Sites:
Algeria: Béni-Isguen oases
Morocco: Tamegroute oases
Tunisia: Gafsa oases
Area of GIAHS:
Algeria: 500 ha
Morocco: 500 ha
Tunisia: 700 ha
Agricultural biodiversity:
Date varieties Algeria (100), Morocco (80) and Tunisia (50).
A wide range of fruits (pomegranates, figs, olives, apricots, peaches, apples, grapes, citrus) and cereals, vegetables, spices, medicinal species, forage and ornamentals
Associated biodiversity:
Migratory birds, Gazelle (Gazella cuvieri),Fennec (Vulpes zerda)
Indicator species:
Gazelle (Gazella cuvieri)
Fennec (Vulpes zerda)
Ecosystem functions:
The three tier system (palms; shrubs and fruit trees; ground crops) creates conditions suited for water conservation and micro-climate regulation.
Management of inter- and intra-species interactions for pest and disease control and efficiency of water and nutrient uses;
Efficient water-use and reduced land degradation.
Ethnicity:
Algeria: Berbères (Mozabite sub-group)
Morocco: Berbères (Ait Atta, Ait Yaffelman, Imharhran, etc.)
Tunisia: Berber, Arabs
Socio-economic and cultural characteristics:
Algeria: Agricultural products from the oasis provide an important source of nutrition and income for its inhabitants and for many it is their primary or secondary source of livelihood. Most of the agricultural products derived from the oasis are for self-consumption and guarantee food security that is high in quality and quantity.
Social institutions such as the Aoumma represent the local community and are charged with the oversight, control, and maintenance of oasis resource systems. This institution derives its legitimacy and authority from customary law and is dependent upon the council of local religious dignitaries the Halqa of Azzabas which is also the focus of social life and norms.
Morocco: Livelihoods are particularly based on agriculture and, to a lesser extent, tourist and handcraft activities. The average income in the whole Draa valley is estimated at 3.167 Dh (300 $US)/inhabitant (2000). Sixty percent of this is procured by agriculture and the remainder by date production.
The current average rate of demographic expansion is 3,53%, urbanisation is remarkably a primary concern of the rural population. The resulting overexploitation of the remaining arable land is harmful to the ecosystem equilibrium.
The increasing demographic pressure on the natural resources of the oases and the inherent poverty (36% of the population is living under the poverty line) are destabilizing the ecosystem. A move from the oases towards Europe and national large cities is continuously recorded either seasonably or definitely.
The Tamegroute Oases millenarian civilisation is a real corpus for sustainable development that can benefit all civilisations of the world living in arid regions. Traditional water resource management system called "Ougoug" and "Khettara", transhumance practices, traditional architectural design of human habitats "Ksours and Kasbahs" are some relevant examples that witnessed perfect social cohesion and solidarity among local people and tribes.
Tunisia: The population of the oasis are descendents of indigenous Berbers and of people from numerous civilizations that have invaded, migrated to and assimilated into the population over the millennia. Since the beginning of extraction of phosphate (at the end of the 19th century) there was an important migration of workers and families from Libya and Algeria looking for work in phosphate mines.
The mainstay of the Oasis livelihood is the irrigated date palm culture, with integrations of other crops and livestock. In recent times other economic activities such as tourism and remittances from emigrated community members have provided for growing cash needs.
The traditional social water management system has been largely replaced by the association of farmers for water management (Groupement d'Intéret Collectif: GIC for water), the co-operative of agricultural services, Omda (responsible for the smallest administrative unit), the agricultural engineering services, and local farmer unions. As there is no integrated collaborative community approach towards water management, access to the principal natural water sources and disputes between water users are beginning to pose a problem. Also, due to the increased demand for drinking water for the city of Gafsa, the irrigation systems for the Gafsa oases are under increased stress.
Threats –main factors affecting the conservation of agricultural biodiversity:
In general, Maghreb oases are threatened by the depletion of aquifers through deep pumping for modern irrigated agriculture, the disruption of traditional institutions for date pollination and water management, and associated ruptures in transfer of specialised traditional knowledge.
Algeria: Due to its fragility, the palm oasis is threatened by:
- Growing incidences of Bayoud disease (caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum) that kills date palms resulting in a loss of palm populations and in the range of genetic diversity that destabilizes the integrity of the ecosystem;
- Families that are involved in seed selection risk marginalization unless fresh seed is made available (crucial for saving some seed cultivars);
- Professions and skills related to the pruning and pollination of trees are also at risk with great consequences for the maintenance of date palm diversity;
- Lack of documentation for date varieties and growing requirements (even for varieties of luxury dates from the regions of Utaqbala and Babati);
- Urban encroachment into the palm groves;
- Abandonment of sections of the palm groves;
- Fragmentation of the oasis due to land parcelling through land inheritance;
- Pollution of the environment, water table, and waterways;
- No maintenance of hydraulic works and waterways.
Morocco: The productive heritage and the highly adapted life style in the Tamegroute oases are exposed to many threats under the effects of diverse environmental aggressive factors that can be either bio-physical or human: successive periods of drought, Bayoud disease, locust invasions, modern urban extension and related activities, water and soil salinity, soil erosion and degradation, and diverse forms of desertification.
Today, people's livelihood and their farming ecosystems in the Tamegroute oases are under heavy pressure from a number of inter-linked factors of ecological and socio-economic nature affecting the delicate sustainability equilibrium of the oases. Ecological factors include land degradation, genetic erosion of biodiversity, use of inappropriate agronomic practices, frequent droughts and reduction of aquifers, sand encroachment, and the introduction of foreign species.
Among the socio-economic factors which influence people's livelihoods and their farming systems are the marginalization of indigenous communities (particularly fragile and silent groups such as women) and the fast eroding local culture and traditional knowledge.
Tunisia: This site has suffered similar ecological and socioeconomic problems as found at Tamegroute. In addition, the oases are perceived by the authorities primarily as an area of agricultural production. Important projects in the Gafsa oases take only a limited view of conservation and this perception obscures the various components of this ecosystem and its multi-functionality. These policies focus on increasing production and do not successfully address the problems the oases are facing in terms of their socio-economic, cultural, and environmental dimensions.
Objectives and activities of the project:
Algeria: The objective is to safeguard the different integral components that maintain biological and cultural diversity of the date palm oasis, including ancient and ingenious systems of rainwater distribution, irrigation systems, the maintenance of the water table, land, plant and animal management. The project seeks to support local knowledge and techniques that are concordant with a rational and sustainable use of the water, land and living resources contained in this delicate environment as well as to develop new agricultural parameters.
Morocco: The proposed project aims to support the conservation of the historical character of Tamegroute oases, spread over approximately 2156 ha. This area also belongs to the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve, called "Reserve de biosphere des oasis du sud Marocain". In this reserve, the Project would serve particularly in the Tamegroute area to promote the safeguarding of the rich and invaluable cultural heritage maintained by Tamegroute communities. Lessons and experiences gained through the UNDP-GEF/ IPGRI Project on Date Palm (being implemented in the Maghreb and specifically in the site of Fezouata Region as far as the Moroccan component is concerned), will be used to scale up successful approaches and practices across the Tamegroute region, where more than 19,000 people live and depend for their food/nutritional security and income on the oases agro-ecosystem. This project in Tamegroute will be carried out as a pilot initiative. Experiences emerging from this project will be subsequently disseminated for their replication in other oases across West Asia and North Africa.
This project is justified also on the realization that, over the last decade, the increasing attention of countries in the region to conservation of biodiversity has not yet addressed the safeguard of indigenous knowledge and cultural aspects related to biodiversity in a consistent manner. The proposed work is meant to address these issues using a holistic approach that will foster conservation of biodiversity as a result of greater appreciation of related cultural practices, better understanding from stakeholder groups of its socio-economic values, and through the creation of concrete add-value supporting initiatives in favour of income generation for the poor sector of Tamegroute's society (being these related to market enhancement of local food/agricultural products, tourism and other aspects).
Tunisia: To preserve the cultural patrimony of the Medina (city) and oases of Gafsa and its biodiversity in socially, economically and environmentally sustainable ways. This includes the revitalization of agricultural practices and local institutions that maintain diversity in the oases. The general objective of the project is the safeguarding of the Medina and the oases as sustainable socio-agro-ecological systems (for habitat and production). A diversity of date palm varieties, fruits trees and legumes is a keystone to the maintenance of this agro-ecosystem.
Specific objectives:
1. Sensitize stakeholders and community members of the need and urgency to conserve Gafsa and it's patrimonies for humanity.
2. Sensitize stakeholders and community members of the need and urgency to rehabilitate the Oases.
3. Sensitize stakeholders and community members of the need and urgency and conserve and rehabilitate the old Medina of Gafsa.
4. Identify, safeguard, and add economic value to the Oases' plant genetic diversity and to monuments of the Medina.
5. Involve young people and women in the oasis and in the Medina in activities linked to development of Medina and oases
6. Development of ecotourism in the oasis and Medina.
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Detailed information
Oases of the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia)