Nearly 490 Mediterranean wetlands severely threatened by climate change and the loss of future natural environments are still unprotected: this is one in many findings published by Biological Conservation – a leading international journal in the discipline of conservation science.
Thirty-two out of these wetlands are of international importance for waterbirds and are located mainly in Turkey, Spain and some Maghreb countries, including Tunisia.
These findings were coordinated by the Research Institute for the Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands La Tour du Valat and the Ecology and Conservation Science Centre (CESCO – The French National Museum of Natural History, Sorbonne University), La Tour du Valat Friday said in a press release.
In these unprotected Mediterranean wetlands, “waterbird communities may have difficulty adapting to global warming by 2100,” scientists who carried out the study warned.
Tunisia suffered total loss or experinced deep changes of over 50% of its natural wetlands , international expert in nature management and conservation and founder of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) North Africa Office Faouzi Mamouri said earlier in an interview with TAP.
The majority of freshwater wetlands around the Medjerda disappeared ver the past 50 years, he further said.
Tunisia, a signatory to Ramsar Convention since 1981, has around 950 wetlands (including dams), 42 of which are of international importance, according to WWF. The most known are coastal lagoons, namely Ghar el Melh (Bizerte), Korba (Nabeul), Tunis, Boughrara (Southern Gulf of Gabés), chotts such as Chott Jerid, sebkhas, including Sijoumi (Tunis ), Halk el Menjel (Central Tunisia), Adhibet (southeastern Tunisia) and oases, mainly Nefzaoua, Jerid and Gabés.
Wetlands in Tunisia are home to 260 terrestrial plant species, 50 aquatic plant species, and 140 bird species, most of them migratory. species
Over 500,000 birds coming from Asia and Europe head to Tunisia’s wetlands each year.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse