Protected areas of the algerian Sahara, between traditions and contemporary issues: prospects for ecodevelopment in the heart of cultural parks of Tassili-Ahaggar (Algeria)

Abstract

Desert protected areas present two challenges: economic necessities and
environmental constraints. At first glance, irreconcilable, given the many
pressures, of essentially anthropogenic origins, such as overexploitation
of natural resources or excessive abstraction... exacerbating the current
ecological impacts.
So, the new strategy of tourism governance in Algeria is based on a virtuous
logic between preservation of biodiversity and commercial interests of
protected areas. From now on, the Saharan parks are moving towards a
prospective vision of growth based on ecotourism.
This approach supports an active program of socio-economic development,
committed in two cultural parks, the most emblematic of southern Algeria:
Ahaggar and Tassili n’Ajjer – inscribed in 1982 on the World Heritage List
of the UNESCO and listed in 1986 biosphere reserve. An approach initing
all the inhabitants of the parks around a common heritage to value and
safeguard.
In short, it is about proposing an ecodevelopment policy in which the
Tassili-Ahaggar parks would become a model to duplicate. It aims to support
ecotourism on all protected areas of the Algerian Sahara, in order to create
a network of destinations focused on alternative tourism, attractive for
domestic and international tourists.