Les Gorges de Thelja. 02/02/12; Gafsa; 675 ha; 34°'23'37"N 008°20'36"E. Réserve Naturelle. A natural valley with deep ravine areas through which Thelja Wadi runs, mountainous and arid in the chain of the djebels of the Saharan Atlas (altitude 210-450 m). The valley extends through several kilometers along the very sinuous Thelja and is a landscape of unique tourist attraction in Tunisia, with its famous Red Lizard train journey from al-Mitlawi (Metlaoui) with renovated train cars from the phosphate mining. The site includes Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos as well as the lizard Uromastyx acanthinura, which has a high capacity to live in desert conditions. The site is potentially threatened by pollution as a result of the mining activities carried out upstream and constructions related to tourism, but it is part of a presidential programme created in 2009 to preserve the mountain, wadi, and gallery biotopes to reinforce the biological diversity, encourage ecological tourism, and support scientific research and tourism. Ramsar Site no. 2009. Most recent RIS information: 2011.

Gafsa