Landscape Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Services in Tunisia: Case Study of Sebkha Sijoumi

With great landscape value, remarkable potentialities and great ecological importance, wetlands are ecosystems that maintain the environmental balance in different contexts (urban, peri-urban and rural). These areas also provide several ecosystem services essential to the sustainable management of natural resources and viable socio-economic development according to sustainable development objectives. In Tunisia, there are 250 wetlands, 20 of which are listed in the RAMSAR convention. Nevertheless, recent studies and research have shown that wetlands are the most degraded natural spaces, especially when they are located in an urban context. Through this analysis, we try to show the importance of these areas in the production of remarkable landscapes, in managing natural resources and in mitigating global changes. The choice of Sebkha Sijoumi is based on the ecosystem services that this area offers to the landscape of the south of the capital Tunis, the environmental balance of the Greater Tunis region, and the maintenance of ecological biodiversity of the northern region of Tunisia and the Mediterranean. In this framework, a landscape diagnosis is adopted based on a systemic approach, cartographic analysis and an evaluation of the sustainability indices of this remarkable but degraded wetland. This article aims to identify the different values of the ecosystem services of the study area as well as the indices of sustainability that can participate in its future valorisation and good management.