Chréa

Chréa National Park was created in 1983 in the Blidean Atlas, some fifty kilometres south of Algiers, and protects around 265 km².

The massif rises abruptly above the Mitidja plain and reaches 1,600 metres, which produces a marked climatic contrast: while the plain has a warm Mediterranean climate, the summits receive snow regularly in winter, and at Chréa one of the few ski stations in North Africa has operated since colonial times.

Its principal botanical value is the Atlas cedar forest, which here reaches its northern limit and occupies the high ground of the massif, accompanied by holm oak and gall oak woods below. The park holds a population of Barbary macaque and Barbary stag, as well as a notable woodland and cliff-nesting birdlife. Its gorges, such as those of the Chiffa, with the celebrated Ruisseau des Singes, are a traditional excursion from Algiers. It was recognised as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2002.