Garâa Sejenane

Garâa Sejenane

Country:
Tunisia
Site number:
2447
Area:
4,322.0 ha
Designation date:
02-02-2021
Coordinates:
37°05'51"N 09°12'48"E
  • mission de suivi du site
  • paysage de la Garaâ de sejenane
  • paysage de la Garaâ de sejenane
  • la garaâ sejenane vue de haut de plaine
  • le rumex tunetanus de graâ de sejenane
  • paysage de la Garaâ de sejenane

Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.


Garâa Sejenane is found at 110 metres above sea level in the Mogod mountains in the north-west of Tunisia. At 1,500 hectares, it is the largest natural freshwater wetland in the country. This once-permanent lake was drained in the late 1950s, leaving a depression five kilometres long and three wide with a mosaic of seasonal wetlands, pastureland, tobacco fields and market gardens. The drainage led to the extinction of globally and regionally important plant species but, despite the extent of human intervention, the Site retains exceptional conservation value with its great wealth of hydrophytes and other notable plants. There are several globally and regionally threatened species, such as the only population in the world of Rumex tunetanus, the world’s largest population of the fern Pilularia minuta, which is endemic to the Mediterranean region, and the largest population in North Africa of Elatine macropoda. In addition, the Site is home to Pleurodeles nebulosus, a vulnerable amphibian which is endemic to Algeria and Tunisia. Garâa Sejenane is privately owned and collectively managed by the Groupement de Développement Agricole (GDA) representing the land owners, the municipality and the Delegation of Sejenane.

Administrative region: Gouvernorat de Bizerte

Last publication date: 31-03-2021