El Kala

El Kala National Park was created in 1983 at the north-eastern tip of Algeria, beside the Tunisian border, and protects some 800 km² in the El Tarf region.

Its uniqueness is hydrological: in a largely arid country, this corner of the Maghreb receives some of the highest rainfall in North Africa, and the result is a complex of lakes, marshes and flooded alder woods without equal in the whole region. Lakes Oubeira and Tonga are the main ones, both designated Ramsar sites, and they are joined by temporary lagoons, coastal dunes and a little-altered Mediterranean shore.

The forests are of cork oak, Algerian oak and alder, with patches of relict laurel forest in the dampest ravines. That combination supports an exceptional biodiversity: the park is home to the Barbary stag, the only deer species native to North Africa, and its wetlands are a crucial staging point on the migration between Europe and Africa, with wintering populations of white-headed duck, ferruginous duck and wildfowl in their thousands. It was recognised as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1990.