32 



TUNISIA 



On the shores of Gascogne the sand is brought to the shore by 

 the tides and the movement of the sand is only in one direction — 

 from west to east. The dunes of Tunisia are caused by two 

 factors. Some of them are formed under the influence of 

 wind from the sandy areas which always exist in the desert 

 in a mobile state or are found on the shores of the bays 

 and lakes. Others were caused by the breaking up of the soil 

 through cultivation and grazing, and the wind that moves the 

 sand is often from several directions which then makes it nec- 

 essary to protect an oasis from all sides. In 1886 the French 

 Government decided the work of fixing the shore dunes and 

 drifting sand around the oases a public necessity. 



The oases: Gabes, Tozeur, Nefta, as well as the fixation of 

 the shore dunes near Bizerta and Cap Bon, have been considered 

 among the most urgent ones. The fixation of the sand areas 

 around the oasis Nefta may be considered as typical for the 

 southern part of Tunisia. After many failures the Forest 

 Service has worked out a satisfactory method of stopping and 

 reclaiming the moving sand. The sandy area around the oasis 

 Nefta which was to be reclaimed occupied an area of 420 hec- 

 tares (1038 acres), while the area of gardens after the com- 

 pletion of the reclamation work reached an area of 800 hectares 

 (1977 acres). Reclaiming the sand dunes around the oasis Nefta 

 cost the government during the first ten years close to 60,000 

 francs ($12,000). At present the annual cost of maintaining 

 the plantations and keeping the fences in repair is about 3000 

 francs ($600) a year, not including the cost of protection. The 

 value of some of the oases may be appreciated from the fact 

 that at the oasis Nefta there are growing 240,000 date palms, not 

 counting other crops. The palm plantations extend for a length 

 of 9 kilometres (5.5 miles) from east to west and have a width of 

 about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles). The oasis Tozeur has an area 

 of 400 hectares (988 acres) and has 218,000 date palms which 

 yield 8,500,000 kilograms (18,739,260 pounds) of dates. 



At the oases the general principles of dune protection apply, 

 but the detailed methods ^^ used are modified to conform with 



" Based in part upon a description in the Indicateur Tunisien, 1912. 



