Cities crumbling under the weight of waste
Algeria has undergone particularly intense demographic growth, and this is not set to stop: from 43 million people today, 50 million are expected by 2030. Annual waste production, at 23 million tonnes, is therefore likely to increase still further. This represents a major challenge, as waste piles up anarchically, or is incinerated in landfill sites for lack of an effective management system. The response to this scourge is all the more urgent given that half of all waste is of industrial origin, and extremely polluting for already over-exploited groundwater. As for household waste, it's not much better: more than half ends up in the environment.
Yet the country has a legal framework in place, reinforced by 228 landfills and 23 sorting centers. But the habits of using plastic and piling it up in illegal dumps are still hard to break, and policies are still haphazard due to a lack of resources. In 2022, the Minister for the Environment, Samia Moualfi, announced her ambition to open up this issue to the private sector, to turn it into a job-creating sector. The solution could therefore lie in start-up innovations, such as that of Ammar Belhouchet, a young Algerian engineer closely watched by investors, who has invented a very promising garbage elevator. This innovation solves the problem of open-air landfills by keeping waste underground until it can be collected by an elevator, thus limiting the proliferation of diseases, pests and mosquitoes, as well as water pollution.
In 2024, the Minister for the Environment and Renewable Energies, Fazia Dahlab, took up the issue by drawing up the Stratégie Nationale de Gestion Intégrée des Déchets à l'horizon 2035 (SNGID 2035). This project, co-financed by the EU, should enable Algeria to develop better waste management and reduce environmental pollution by promoting a green, circular economy. The wilaya of Blida has become an example in this field, with some 154 companies active in the recycling and waste recovery sector.
An ecological mirage in the desert
As well as a response to the waste crisis, Algeria intends to make innovation the key to its ecological turnaround. This is demonstrated by Ksar Tafilelt, an eco-village that has sprung up like an oasis near the desert. The idea originated in the 1990s as a response to the housing crisis. The 22-hectare village now stands on a rocky hillside, built using regional materials such as stone and lime, which are perfect insulators. Its narrow streets create shade and wind corridors, and the houses themselves are fitted with moucharabiehs - lace-like windows that allow ventilation without electricity.
On top of this, the village's operation allows wastewater to be reused for watering green spaces. Finally, the public lighting system relies on the sun, which is not in short supply in the region. The village also raises awareness among its inhabitants, as everyone is called upon to get involved and is responsible for a palm tree, an ornamental tree and a fruit tree.
Desertification threatens cities
Dunes, which already account for 85% of the country, continue to swallow up the surrounding landscape. Between 1975 and 2016, 20% of the territory was affected by silting! One of the causes is overgrazing in the highland steppes. Many millions of sheep graze these short grasslands, and the dunes are no longer held in place by the net of roots. Added to this is global warming and the recurrent droughts it brings: since 1975, rainfall in the region has fallen sharply, preventing any possibility of soil replenishment.
In 1970, the government launched a huge project called the Green Dam, aimed at creating a wall of forest crossing the country from west to east, 1,500 km long and 20 km wide, to block the sand. Serious studies have been launched to realize this project, adapting to the ecological particularities of each region crossed. The use of native Algerian species alone has made this dam rich in biodiversity, in addition to its primary function. Since 2021, the Green Dam has been restored through a number of projects. In 2022, Environment Minister Samia Moualfi announced the planting of 3.7 to 4.7 million hectares of trees in the dam and other green spaces by 2035. The Green Dam should also prove a valuable ally in the fight against global warming.
The forest fire emergency
The combined action of drought and rising temperatures (with an all-time record of 51.3°C in 2018) is reducing forests to ashes. For the past fifty years, rainfall has been slowly falling and water tables have been shrinking. So much so that in 2021, as the country suffocated in the heat, the tap was turned off for a large part of the population.
That year, a fire of criminal origin broke out. Under the effect of the heat, 89,000 ha, mainly in Kabylia, were swept away by the flames. Although fires are frequent in Algeria, the number of outbreaks and the intensity of the flames are unprecedented. Although the government has launched a three-day national mourning period to mourn the victims, ecological measures are still a little slow, mainly due to a lack of resources.
Biodiversity under threat
The vastness of its territory and the aridity of its climate have given Algeria 330 very rare plants and 600 endemics. However, half of all plant species are now threatened with extinction, notably as a result of urbanization, bush fires and deforestation. This destruction of habitats inevitably threatens animal species too, which are already vulnerable to poaching, drought and pollution. There are many endangered species, such as the Mediterranean monk seal, the cuffed sheep or the Saharan cheetah, of which the country is home to the third-largest population. The large number of rare species found in Algeria makes it all the more essential to create protected areas dedicated to them. However, the surface area of national parks is still very much in the minority.
National parks in Algeria
Algeria today boasts eleven national parks, most of which measure only a few dozen or a few hundred square kilometers. Only two of them are of significant size. The first, the largest, is also the oldest: the Tassili National Park. Of crucial importance, Unesco classifies it as both a world heritage site and a biosphere reserve. It is also famous for its rock engravings and paintings, depicting animals such as the highly endangered mouflon moufflon, which are still present today, underlining the importance of conserving the area.
The second largest park is the Ahaggar National Park, which has been enlarged many times, to the great delight of its flora and fauna. Its superb setting, which includes the Hoggar massif and other reliefs, including the country's highest, Tahat, is home to numerous species, some of which are threatened or vulnerable. These include dorcas gazelles, cheetahs and even the national animal: the fennec.
