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Issues and challenges

The arid areas where the oases are located, home to an estimated population of two billion inhabitants...​

40%

Global Coverage

66%

Coverage in Africa

28%

World population

The oases, which are defined as being islands of life, and an extended and arid space they constitute a world heritage threatened by the effects of climate change and face an increasing scarcity of water resources and a deterioration of their quality, soil erosion, a reduction in biodiversity, a decline in agricultural activity and disintegration oasis communities. Such a situation is in some places aggravated by the impact of poorly controlled urbanization and industrialization. Oasis systems, thus weakened by climate change and human activities, need to be managed in a sustainable manner by integrating economic, environmental and social dimensions.

Two billion inhabitants at risk

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   The arid zones where the oases are located are home to an estimated population of two billion inhabitants. , or nearly 28% of the world's population. They cover nearly 40% of the globe, including 66% in Africa. They thus constitute a significant area of the earth's surface and have the potential for oasis agriculture. Date palm oases cover nearly a million hectares and support around ten million oases. This is therefore a major issue that must be taken into consideration.

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Agricultural production potential

The other challenge lies in preserving and promoting the potential of specific agricultural productions often referred to as local products. Agricultural activity, which contributes to the food security of residents, is based on efficient use and valorization of available water resources. The oases have developed ingenious systems and know-how and deeply rooted practices of water use and distribution. They attach great importance to these ancestral systems given the vital value of this natural resource for the continuity of life in the oases.

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biodiversity plant and animal

The rich exceptional heritage of the oases constitutes another challenge at the level of these spaces. Among these heritages, there is the rich plant and animal biodiversity observed in oasis level. Likewise, over the centuries, oases have been able to acquire responsible behavior towards natural heritage, which has enabled them to be preserved, improved and enhanced. This results, among other things, in breeds and ecotypes well suited to the practice of oasis agriculture.

 

An architectural heritage

The socio-cultural aspects acquired and adapted from generation to generation have made it possible to have a way of life within the oases which allows the maintenance of their balance as well as their continuity. The architectural heritage traditionally developed within oases testifies to this profound adaptation of habitat to confront the aggressiveness of the environment and at the same time self-manage in a supportive manner. These various heritages constitute challenges at the level of the oases whose preservation and adaptation become a necessity in order to be able to face the future.

 

A challenge for the present and future of humanity​

The first historically known human civilizations developed in oases. Thus, oases are places of human and natural history. It is therefore a heritage that it is imperative to recognize, analyze and promote for the present and future of humanity.
The oases are nevertheless threatened by the new realities of modern life. They are caught in a spiral of degradation triggered by climate change and aggravated by the overexploitation of resources, emigration, particularly of rural youth, the progressive loss of ancestral know-how, the introduction of new lifestyles and behaviors. which are out of balance with the fragile balance of the oases. Such trends seriously threaten the sustainability of oases.
These are a set of issues and challenges that the Sustainable Oasis Initiative must take into consideration in order to develop a vision for the future of oases.

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In my childhood, this oasis was green and prosperous. In one generation it has become almost arid and barren »

Abderahmane, 37 years old - Erfoud.

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