Ichkeul, Tunisia

Change detection map, comparing national park of Ichkeul lies between the Mogods mountains and the Mediterranean coast of northwest Tunisia in 1972 and 1990. Earth observation data archives, with imagery acquired from the 1970s, are a unique source of information to assess the historical evolution of wetlands worldwide. This lake–marsh ecosystem has been classified as a Biosphere Reserve in 1977, included in the Ramsar list in 1980 and subsequently nominated as a World Heritage site. The prolonged droughts and the reduction of freshwater inflows due to the construction of three dams on the incoming rivers have resulted in a destructive increase of salinity and sediments and in the loss of freshwater plant species. Following the success of some extensive restoration work, the lake has been removed from the UNESCO list of World heritages in danger in 2006.