In Tunisia, the oasis plays a crucial role in agricultural production and environmental conservation. The Gabès oasis is the only coastal oasis in the Mediterranean. In addition to its remarkable geographical location, the oasis has rich biodiversity thanks to an oasis microclimate and an exploitation of resources adapted to the territory: three crop levels (palm trees high up, fruit trees at the middle level, and market gardening and cereal crops on the ground, etc.). The wildlife is both aquatic and terrestrial and is also diverse, with a large variety of migratory and sedentary birds. Furthermore, the Gabès oasis has a high-quality cultural and historical heritage.
However, a number of environmental factors are threatening the existence of oases, especially in the Gabès region. The oasis is affected by industrial pollution and its growing fragility leads to an increase in the poverty of farmers and local communities.
PGE Gabès has a budget of EUR 5m and will last four years. It contributes to the implementation of scientifically approved solutions which benefit from strong stakeholder support.
The project is supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) in the region, with the aim of building their capacities to combat pollution. At the same time, the project is also directly assisting civil society in the implementation of concrete actions, combining environmental and economic benefits for local communities.
PGE Gabès contributes to building a shared vision of the territory via a strong alliance between local partners (Tunisian ministries, local authorities, professionals, producers and civil society associations, women’s groups and youth associations), and the European Union delegation.
The participatory approach adopted by PGE Gabès has been central to the cooperation with each stakeholder: civil society and political actors. CSOs are firmly rooted in local socioeconomic and cultural realities. They promote participatory approaches and concrete actions in the field, and thereby themselves become catalysts for change and innovation as they:
Training in environmental issues is essential. PGE Gabès sets up educational programmes for local communities, especially for young people. These programmes allow local actors to get information, exchange and share their knowledge, and build their skills. These educational programmes are complemented with a number of awareness-raising actions.
The residents of Gabès are concerned about the pollution caused by the phosphate industry. Waste is currently discharged into the sea, which disrupts the fragile and complex balances of the marine environment and causes major damage to the marine biodiversity of the Gulf of Gabès. Consequently, a study was commissioned in 2013 to come up with a less polluting alternative. This resulted in a proposal for a storage site in Oudhref, 20 km from Gabès. However, civil society quickly mobilized against this project, which led to deadlock. Faced with this situation, which was caused by a lack of consultation, the Government and European Union delegation came up with the idea of setting up a framework to involve all actors, including civil society, in making decisions which have an impact on their environment. The Environmental Governance Support Project in Gabès (PGE Gabès) came about through this reflection.
The project is firmly based on establishing a participatory environmental governance in the Gabès region, with the aim of involving the population in decisions which concern them. Consequently, civil society organizations have been included in the two committees which have been set up: the national steering committee, chaired by the Minister of the Environment, and the local steering committee, which is the project’s real decision-making body. Given the positions of civil society, the early days were complicated. We started by organising information sessions with associations in the region actively working on environmental issues. Some 50 local associations out of the 60 identified replied to our invitation. Faced with their scepticism, it was a question of establishing a dialogue and restoring confidence. The network of associations in the Gabès region is now represented by four representatives on the steering committees through an election system. The aim is to make these bodies truly operational and ensure they are sustainable by project completion in 2018.
The programme is implemented through four components: the development of knowledge on environmental issues, capacity building for industry leaders in the region in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility, support for local actors in environmental communication, and support for actions for local development and to improve the environmental situation. Through the implementation of these four components, PGE Gabès ensures that possible solutions emerge to the environmental concerns of the population of Gabès.
