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WWF-North Africa (WWF NA)  was honored to attend the national Geo-parks committee meeting organized by the National Office of Mines (ONM) held on 8^th July 2020within the framework of the project “Geo-Med-Gis”. This meeting aimed to present the progress of the establishment of the first geo-park in Tunisia and the registration under the international UNESCO geological heritage.

Opportunity to establish vibrant collaboration between MEDUSA and Geo-Med-Gis

On the sidelines of this meeting, members of MEDUSA team Ms EssiaGuezzi and Mr Sami Dhouib took the opportunity to present the main goals of the project as well as the ways of collaboration between the two projects, including trainings and the establishment of strategic alliances. The general manager of the ONM committed to establish a framework of collaboration with WWF NA to support the implementation of MEDUSA project, which aims at developing and promoting eco-tourism in different hidden gem areas across the country, as well as in Spain, Tunisia, Italy and Jordan.

Invest in Geo-tourism, intuitional commitment to diversify products   

Geological sites and landscapes that make the charm and the uniqueness of the Tunisian Sahara are not recognized and explored as a potential for developing tourism and new products and offers. The geo-park covering more than 6000 Km square belongs to three governorates in the south of Tunisia, offers a wide range of potentialities including the development of a sustainable tourism based on the historic, geologic, cultural and natural heritage characterizing this area. New tourist friendly products, tour packages, interesting routes and itineraries could be created and promoted. This was suggested by Mr Tarek Zayene, who is the representative of the National office of Tourism during the meeting of the national geo-park committee. He highlighted the importance of supporting the establishment of a geo-park in Tunisia as a new pillar to diversify tourism products, promote new destination and contribute to local development. The huge potential including history of humans, cultural practices and memory of the earth as a unique and universal heritage needs more efforts to promote and develop the concept of Geo-tourism. The Ministry of Tourism is currently working on the development of the new tourism strategy 2020–2030 based on the diversification of the products and the engagement of all stakeholders within the process.