MUTATIONS AND SOCIO-SPATIAL CHANGES IN OASIS AND CAMEL SYSTEMS IN THE ALGERIAN NORTHERN SAHARA

Abstract

In Algeria, the Saharan space illuminates that this is where the oldest and most refined agrarian civilizations in history were born and fertilized. To this day they remain authentic oasis producers and real camel breeders who have a keen sense of their space, delicately landscaping their terroirs and guiding their steps and herds with astonishing safety. The ancient oasis of Ouargla is the illustration that, which, formerly known as the "capital of oases", is the largest in southern Algeria. This oasis that exceeds the millennium built by our forefathers due to their genius while forging fruitful relationships with nomadic communities. What readings should be punctuated concerning the oasis space and the surrounding territories in the 21st century? Today, the oasis of Ouargla, surrounded by unprecedented urbanization, has been reduced to agricultural perimeters projected in the middle of the desert, while camel now embodies new breeding systems which common point lies in a productive logic. Oasis spaces, as well as camel rearing, are called to unfold through new territorial perspectives and to emerge in sustainability, via the agronomic, social economic and environmental spheres.