The 1992 Earth Summit has marked the history and attracted global attention to the importance of the issues of environment conservation and vulnerable ecosystems protection. This has consistently been advocated by international framework Agreements and Conventions, notably the three Rio Conventions (The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and The Convention on Biological Diversity). The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 reaffirm the countries’ commitments to the protection and conservation of the environment. In particular, SDG 15 aims to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity.”

The Circum-Sahara region displays a multitude of landscapes and diversified ecosystems, including in particular the oases ecosystems located especially in arid areas. These ecosystems are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to natural and anthropogenic factors accentuated by the adverse effects of climatic variations. The oasis ecosystems represent viable and liveable systems which have long persisted against an arid and dry environment and extreme weather events.
Currently, new natural, environmental and socio-economic threats are hindering the sustainability of the oases ecosystems, despite all the importance and interest placed by the Rio Conventions on this issue. In fact, the oases are presently less capable of ensuring their ecosystem services, which are vital for socio-economic development of populations whose livelihoods are highly dependent on oases natural resources.

This threatened sustainability requires the introduction of urgent restoration, protection and rehabilitation actions by governments and concerned actors.  The development strategies and programmes in the Circum-Sahara region should also integrate a new « Sustainable Oasis » vision in order to establish healthy, prosperous and sustainable ecosystems for current and future generations.

With a view to promoting the « Sustainable Oasis » initiative, OSS launches within the framework of the MENA-DELP project, an online questionnaire aiming to identify/evaluate the prospects of developing a regional investment programme focused on oasis ecosystems. The questionnaire results will also help to assess the knowledge of national partners about oases, their role and advantages (environmental, socio-economic and cultural) and identify the different practices and local know-how in terms of natural resources conservation and valuation.

This questionnaire is structured around the following themes:
• State-of-the-art of knowledge on oases
• Threats to the oasis environment
• Oases restoration measures
• The « Sustainable Oasis » regional vision


P.S.: It is not mandatory to answer all the questions. You may respond to only those of your choice.
Do not hesitate to contact OSS for any further clarification on the following address: questionnaire@oss.org.tn or via phone.
Contributors to the questionnaire will be mentioned in the summary document and related products.
Thank you for your participation.