In the Kerkennah islands, Tunisia, the Kraten Association for Sustainable Development, Culture and Leisure (AKDDCL) implemented a small project aiming at preserving and raising awareness about sponges and its traditional fisheries in the city of Kraten, funded by SMILO.
Preserve traditional sponge fisheries in Kraten, Tunisia
What is the project?
For centuries, the people of Kraten have been fishing for sponges in a traditional way. They capture them by diving, and by fishing them with long tridents. This activity is threatened by marine pollution, and the trawling near the coasts have dangerously reduced the sponge population.
To preserve sponges and defend this heritage, SMILO financed the AKDDCL’s project “The sponge, a way to develop Kraten”.
Location: Kraten, Island of Kerkennah,
Tunisia
Thematic: Biodiversity protection
Budget: 3,000€
Partners:
Association Kraten du Développement Durable
de la Culture et du Loisir (AKDDCL)
What ARE the objectiveS?
- Preserve sponges and traditional fisheries
- Include traditional fisheries into an ecotourism strategy
- Develop and share knowledge about sponge fisheries and conservation
- Raise awareness among local populations
How?
- Organising an awareness campaign at local school with pedagogic tools
- Raising awareness among fishermen, introducing them to ecotourism and opportunities of sponge fisheries
- Organising a dedicated study day at museum
- Organising a day at sea with local authorities and policymakers, tourists and students
POSITIVE IMPACTS
- Local students, fishermen and policymakers, and tourists are aware of the importance of traditional sponge fisheries and conservation of the local environment for sponge fisheries
- Participants know the opportunity to include sponge traditional fisheries in an ecotourist itinerary