Growing Diversity – North Africa
TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: Rehabilitation of an oasis by a Mozabite community
AUTHOR: Organisation for the protection of the Environment in Beni Isguen
COUNTRY AND REGION: ALGERIA, Beni Isguen, Chebka du M’zab 600 km south of Algiers
ECOLOGICAL ZONE: The Chebka du M’zab shades palm trees in the valleys of a rocky plateau marked with waids (dry gullies) (rainfall 90 mm).
ABSTRACT
The mozabite community is of berber extraction; its life style is based on a strong islamic tradition. Mozabites’ make a living from trade and industry and non violence is basic to their social stability and economic development.
Beni Isguen is a fortified town and is one of the seven town with palm groves of the Chebka in the M’Zab; the main administrative town is Ghardaia (100 000 inhabitants). Most of the local community of Beni Isguen is made up of busy shopkeepers who are very interested in their cultural and environmental heritage.
The Beni Isguen oasis was developed in the 10th century; high technical skills in the control of flood and running waters were used to build the threefold system typical of oases: date palm cultivation, arboriculture (olive, fig, vines, lemon, orange) and the growing of annual plants between the trees. The Chebka in the M’Zab is extremely rich in date palm varieties. This diversity is however badly threatened by the Bayud, a deathly illness of date palms, by the changes in people’s life styles and by commercial thinking, which upsets these fragile cultivated ecosystems. This area is becoming increasingly urbanised and because of that, the thinking behind the prevalent subsistence agriculture has been replaced by one ruled by commercial considerations. One consequence of this has been the introduction of selected varieties causing the gradual disappearance of local varieties. Another one is the abandonment of gardens followed by the decrease in the maintenance of the oasis system (canals, grassing over etc…). The state of the Beni Isguen oasis has become a subject of concern for several years.
An organisation for the protection of the environment of Beni Isguen (l’Association pour la Protection de l’Environnement de Beni Isguen) was created when local people realised that their environment was deteriorating. The organisation was created in 1988 in order to restore the oasis and to contribute to the sustainable development of the oases of the area. The organisation has undertaken several projects. One of the projects is the restoration of water management systems. This project has a component of training in sustainable agriculture which includes the creation of a teaching farm. Another project is the conservation in-situ of the varieties of date palms and the increase in the number of local varieties.
CONTACT:
Abimhamed Mohamed, Président de l’association ; tel/fax : 213 29 88 07 85 . BP 213 29 88 07 85 ; apeb89@hotmail.com