Thanks to an inventory of the Béchouk wetland, at the mouth of the Sidi Salem dam, in the heart of the Medjerda, Tunisia’s most emblematic river reveals its secrets. Long-term work carried out by the Exploralis Association and the uncompromising commitment of its executive director, Arafet Ben Marzou. A project which aims to create a nature reserve on this site with exceptional biodiversity
Travel, adventure, exploration of unknown, even secret territories are part of the lifelong inclinations of this engineer in biological engineering, Arafet Ben Marzou. And even if this young man of thirty years and a few dusts has also rubbed shoulders with the world of telecommunications, pharmaceutical industries and IT, a common thread unites all his centers of interest: the immoderate passion for ecology. Because even when he traveled, on foot, at the end of 2010, 20,000 kilometers across the great desert to reach South Africa, or even when he left by bicycle, a few months later in Asia, on the road to Silk – an experience from which he will draw a book – the beauty of the world remains his first concern. His constant fascination. In 2014, he co-founded the Exploralis Association with Ridha Ouni, an environmental expert. ” It all started with a desire to promote nature and the beauty of the Tunisian ecosystem. Over time, our approach has taken a more technical path, in particular with the Med’Ex project or even Medjerda Expedition through its two phases 1 and 2. “, explains Arafet Ben Marzou.
370 km by canoe-kayak
The Med’Ex project, which focuses on the conservation of one of the richest and most complex wetland ecosystems in Tunisia, was born from a playful action: crossing the 370 km of Tunisia’s emblematic river in canoe Kayak. A river, which is the main supplier of drinking water for Tunisians and one of the main sources of watering their agricultural land. A river so little known despite its recurrence in geography books for schoolchildren and high school students. With his buddy and traveling companion Ridha Ouni, they embarked in April 2014 on this scientific, ecological and cultural expedition, which will last a month, starting in Ghar El Diwan, on the Algerian borders, and ending in Ghar El Melh, in Tunisia, on the shores of the Mediterranean where the wadi flows.
« During this crossing, we discover a site of incredible scenic beauty, a more or less preserved place located around the town of Béja. This is the Béchouk wetland “recalls Arafet. In fact, the construction of the Sidi Salem dam in 1982, in the heart of the Medjerda, created not only an artificial lake, but also revealed, over the years, a stable wetland, which extends over more than 600 acres. This area is closely related to the ecological dynamics of the Medjerda and has become a sanctuary for exceptional biodiversity. It is this site, which will hold the attention of Exploralis and will be the subject from 2016 of an in-depth study at the end of which the activists of the NGO will call for the establishment of a nature reserve. in this area. The Biodiversity Inventory of the Medjerda which they publish in 2022 at the end of five years of work on the fauna and flora of the river, the zoological guide Med’Ex 2 also published in 2022, as well as a exhibition organized last February in Tunis and the documentary film produced by Arafet Ben Marzou on the project are the tools used by Exploralis to advocate for their ambition.
A dynamic of interest collective
The inventory, which required the establishment of a team of twenty Tunisian experts in various scientific sectors, was supported by the PPI-Oscan program, “Small Initiatives Program for Civil Society Organizations in South Africa”. North” under the aegis of the Center for Mediterranean Cooperation of the International Union for the Conservation of
nature (IUCN-Med), and with joint funding from the Mava Foundation and the French Fund for the Global Environment (Ffem).
All these international NGOs were seduced by the relevance of the project of Arefeemt Ben Marzou and his friends and in particular by: “the educational and artistic dimension which represents an essential aspect of our approach”, insists the co-president of Exploralis. In fact, it is the first time in Tunisia that the Medjerda has been excavated from top to bottom with a focus on this wetland at the mouth of the Sidi Salem dam reservoir.
Because in wetlands, these transitional spaces between land and water, which constitute a unique natural heritage due to their biological richness and their ecosystem services and are protected by international conventions, the Exploralis teams have discovered on the site studied 187 species of birds. To this must be added 28 species of mammals, 16 species of reptiles, 5 species of amphibians and more than 400 species of invertebrates.
All the possibilities from a reserve
And as the Medjerda Biodiversity Inventory demonstrates, general interest in wetlands has changed over the years around the world. They are no longer considered as marginal lands and a source of nuisance but rather as components of the natural heritage of inestimable environmental and socio-economic importance », notes the study. It is in this context that Exploralis defends the idea of the great potential of the Béchouk wetland, which could become a site recognized nationally and internationally because of its exceptional biodiversity.
However, the site is threatened by urban expansion and anarchic archaeological excavations on its shores, the river is subject to industrial discharge from the Béja wadi. Classifying it both protects and enhances it. Transforming it into a nature reserve can create, in a framed way, according to Arafet Ben Marzou, several responses and possibilities: “ A route for bird watching, a scientific and adventure tourism circuit, an eco-museum. In 2015, I visited about fifty ecological parks in the United States. These places offer three dimensions, a recreation area accessible to the public, another open only to scientists and the third preserved from all “. This ecological system buzzing with life located nearly 150 km from the capital now deserves serious attention from the authorities.