Tunis — Tunisia is among the first countries in the world to have ratified the various conventions and agreements relative to environmental conservation and biodiversity. In 1998, Tunisia set up a strategy and a national action program for biodiversity which is being currently updated according to national, regional and global priority requirements.

Within the same framework, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development recently published the fourth national report on biodiversity on the theme "Towards a national strategy for biological diversity 2020â-'.

The report provides that the cost of natural deterioration in Tunisia amounted to 2.1% of the country's GDPwhich is one of the lowest rates among the Southern Mediterranean countries.

In so far as waste treatment is concerned, the report notes an improvement management thanks to the setting up of the waste recycling unit of Jradou in Zaghouan.

It also indicates that the second half of the second decade, will witness the expansion of treated water use areas to create irrigated areas near sanitation stations which will be put up in Tunis over 40 square km and which will be able to irrigate 13,000 hectares by 2017.

The report states that a natural disasters detection and monitoring system was set up to cope with climate change. The report also highlights the establishment of 12 regional programs to fight against desertification and erosion, which has led to substantial savings in water resources.