Oasis and Date Palms: The Jerid’s Identity Recipe (Tunisie SW)

The landscape results from natural events, history, and culture and reflects the interaction between local populations and the environment in space and time. In this sense, we can define “identifying landscapes” as those representing the essence of cultures born and developed in deep integration with the landscape. Mediterranean countries have in common the presence of different and highly characterizing landscapes. In most cases, geomorphology and climate condition the land use that allows sustainable development. This study aims to understand the different stages of evolution of the oasis’ landscape and involve society in shared actions toward sustainable land management and genetic resources conservation. The methodological basis of landscape ecology allows us to give a systemic reading of the oasis’ landscape, and such an approach allows the integration of physical features and cultural values. The resulting table highlights how the multiplicity of these factors is the key to understanding the different stages of evolution of the oasis’ landscape and its overall value. Moreover, the oasis’s authenticity could constitute a fundamental base for successful branding and offers new chances to sustainable tourism development in this local territory.