Lake Ichkeul - Tunisia

In Danger from 1996 to 2006

Area: 126 km²

Inscribed: 1980.

Criteria: (x) biodiversity

Values: Lake Ichkeul is a shallow lake with a fluctuating water level and salinity that serves as an important over-wintering site for Palaearctic migrant waterfowl. In the years preceding its listing as a world heritage site, waterfowl numbers averaged about 250,000, but this has fallen dramatically as a result of the construction of dams on three of the main rivers feeding into the lake during the 80s. Peak-season waterfowl counts reached an all-time low of around 11,000 in 2003, increasing to 35,000 in 2005 after two years of good rainfall. The vast majority of these birds (84%) belong to just three species: wigeon, pochard and coot.

Slideshow of the Ichkeul National Park/world heritage site.

Impressions (based on a visit in May 2006): This site, more than any other in Africa, epitomises the conflict between conservation and economic development.  On the one hand, the government is committed to the conservation of the world heritage site's, ‘Outstanding Universal Values', especially its role as an over-wintering site for waterfowl.  On the other hand, the fresh water which creates the waterfowl habitat is an enormously valuable resource in a dry part of the continent.  So it is hardly surprising that the catchment areas have been dammed and massive pipes installed to carry water from the dams to nearby urban areas, while water is also used for the irrigation of potato, wheat and other crops. This diversion of water denies the lake its life-blood, and the quality of the habitat for waterfowl and other kinds of wildlife has been seriously affected. Efforts are being made to release critical quantities of water into the lake to maintain its freshwater habitats, but the best that can be hoped is for a new equilibrium to be established with (much lower) waterfowl numbers reflecting the quality and quantity of habitat that can be sustained under the new hydrological conditions.  This inevitably raises questions over the degree to which the original values under which a site is included on the world heritage list can be compromised before the listing loses its validity.

Quick Reference Scores: (for explanation see About Us)

Links:  Google Earth | UNEP-WCMC Site Description | Official UNESCO Site Details | Birdlife IBA      

Links to other places in the wetlands category: Banc D’Arguin | Okavango | Djoudj | iSimangaliso | Sanganeb & Dungonab