Tunisia

Support to Sustainable Land Management in the Siliana Governorate

Context: The Siliana region is the key watershed in Tunisia and one of the country’s principal water reservoirs. Increased land degradation in the region is severely affecting the availability of and access to water resources and ecosystem services.

In addition, the productivity of agricultural lands and pastures is diminishing, contributing to rural migration to urban areas, subsistence farming and declining investments in local businesses.

Global benefits: Biodiversity conservation through protection of ecosystem integrity and function, and mitigation of climate change by promotion of increased tree and vegetative cover.

Strategy: Combat land degradation and improve biodiversity conservation by mainstreaming sustainable land management strategies in national and local development priorities and strengthening cross-sectoral coordination.

IFAD-GEF synergies: The project is based on two complementary and highly integrated interventions designed to develop and promote new sustainable land and water management practices.

The IFAD intervention supports sustainable improvement of the incomes and living conditions of the rural population in the Siliana Governorate.

GEF incremental funding will ensure that the issues of land degradation and sustainable land management are effectively mainstreamed in regional and local development plans reflecting national priorities. GEF funding will support pilot biodiversity conservation in selected hot spots. 

Source: IFAD