As part of the implementation of the National Wetlands Strategy Action Plan in Algeria, a new Franco-Algerian partnership project, entitled “Establishment of a monitoring and governance system for the Oranais-Dahra Wetland Complex”, has recently been launched, with a start-up meeting held at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Forests (DGF) on 19 June 2019 in Algiers. The meeting was chaired by the Director General of Forests, in the presence of representatives of the French Embassy in Algiers, the French Ministry of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, the Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands (Tour du Valat), the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, as well as the managers of the General Directorate of Forests.

Start-up meeting of the project “Establishment of a monitoring and governance system for the Oranais-Dahra Wetland Complex”, in Algeria. Photo credit: DGF

The objective of this project is to establish a monitoring and governance system to ensure multi-sectoral, ecosystem-based and sustainable management of the wetlands in the complex of Oranais-Dahra and of their biodiversity and the services they provide to the population. In addition, the management, monitoring and governance model that will be developed within the Oranais-Dahra complex will also aim to be replicated and transferred to other wetland complexes at the national level (a total of 16 complexes have been defined in Algeria as part of its National Wetland Strategy).

Marais de la Macta , Algeria. Photo credit: Wahid TEFIANI

Accordingly, the project results will take into account the specificities of the wetland habitats, their ecological functions, the ecosystem services they provide, the pressures they face (including those due to climate change), and their importance for the maintenance of sustainable socio-economic activities, when implementing concerted management, conservation and restoration activities. This is achieved by integrating, among other things, the operational tools derived from the most recent Earth Observation technologies as well as the specific monitoring protocols for wetlands, developed and applied by the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory (MWO) functioning under the umbrella of Tour du Valat and the Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (MedWet).

The role of the Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory

The MWO will play a key role in this project, in partnership with the DGF-Algeria, in particular by providing its expertise and experience in the spatial monitoring of ecosystems and the implementation of wetland monitoring systems, based on sets of indicators defined according to the needs and territories to be covered (in this case, the Oranais-Dahra Wetland Complex).

For more information, please contact:

Anis Guelmami, Mediterranean Wetlands Observatory, Tour du Valat
guelmami@tourduvalat.org