El Kala Favorites

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Favorite thing: Lac El Mellah (El Mellah lake) means salted lake. It is a body of brackish water which content in salt varies following rain, tides (the Mediterranean has small tides) and winds.

The first photo shows the northern part of the lake, connected with the Mediterranean. In the background (south), the hills of El Tarf. It was drizzling !

If you enlarge the second photo, you will see that there are several anglers, with one protecting himself with an umbrella.

Fishing can be practiced too from a boat. The third photo shows a wooden small craft equipped with an engine.

The last photo shows the opening of lac El Mellah towards the sea (north)

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Favorite thing: The post says "Université d'Annaba, station biologique du lac El Mellah" (University of Annaba, biological station of Lake El Mellah). As lake El Mellah is a brackish water lake, with salt levels that can vary, for scientists, it is a very special and interesting biotope. This is why several groups of the University of Annaba are studying it.

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Favorite thing: The photos show various sights from the look out. That was not the best time to view birds : beginning of December is a bit early in the season, 11AM is a bit late in the day. However, there should have been more birds that what we can see here.

Our guides told us that agricultural development in the draining basin (on the opposite side of the lake) had lead to dramatic changes in the ecology of the lake and that it might explain why there were less birds coming here than previous years.

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Favorite thing: The whole El Kala National Park plays a main part in the north-south migration of birds but Lac Oubeira is the most important body of water for migrating birds. At some time,it can be completely covered with birds. This is why it is classified as a RAMSAR site.

"The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 148 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1526 wetland sites, totaling 129.5 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance."

The first photo shows the sign that says :
"Ministère de l'Agriculture et du Développement rural. Station d'observation du Lac Oubeira" (Ministery of Agriculture and rural development. Lac Oubeira look out)

The second photo shows an old sign on the other side of the road :
"SGP/DA, ONDPA, ONCV, point de vente, poissons, mollusques, volailles, aquariophilie.
SGP/DA stands for Société de gestion des participations dans les Domaines Agricoles" (Society for the managment of [state] shares in agricultural properties).
ONDPA stands for "Office National des Pêches et de l'Aquaculture" (National Office for fishing and fish farming), ONCV for "Office national de commercialisation vinicole" (National Office for wine trade).

This means that at one time, there has been a project to develop the area, which is contradictory with being a Ramstar site. This development project is now abandoned but nevertheless, there are strong pressures to start it again, which would mean that Lake Oubeira would not be able to play its part in the migration of birds. That would be a terrible loss for biodiversity.