Bart Schultz
Although Tunisia is relatively small, its vast north-south distance gives it great ecological diversity. The northern terrain is mountainous, giving way to a hot, dry Central plain towards the South. A series of salt lakes, known as chotts or shatts, lie on an east-west line along the northern edge of the Sahara Desert, extending from the Gulf of Gabes to Algeria. These lakes are situated in natural depressions formed by seepage, originally from infiltrated and percolated rainwater in the rainier south of the Sahara Desert. The seepage water evaporates, leaving behind the salt. The lowest point is Chott el Djerid in Tunisia, at 17 metres below mean sea level.
Two polders could be identified. The largest is Polder Utique. This polder is located in the north of the country. It was reclaimed between 1962 and 1970, and covers an area of 1,230 hectares. The other is Berges du Lac, a prosperous neighbourhood in the capital, Tunis. The neighbourhood has been developed since the 1980s following the creation of polders in Lake Tunis. It is home to many embassies, offices, hotels, and an amusement park. It is therefore considered an urban polder.
In an article published in 2024, Des chotts aux polders: le grand projet d’oasis en Tunisie, Yves Paumier describes a proposal for the reclamation of parts of the Tunisian and Algerian chotts. He points out that this proposal was published as an idea in 2010, but that it is now becoming a reality. It also reportedly enjoys international support. According to him, the reclamations would fit into a reconstruction process, which, among other things, could make Tunisia less dependent of foreign imports.
Regarding the proposed land reclamation, Paumier mentions reconstruction through large-scale infrastructure projects, implementing the best current technologies and fundamentally transforming the Maghreb's geography. It's not clear to me how realistic this plan is. Google Earth doesn't yet show any evidence of its implementation.
