Rehousing Tunisia's threatened freshwater turtles
Tunisia's Menzel Temim reservoir is usually a vital water source for the Nabeul region. Now it's dried up – a disaster for local people and wildlife alike, including the turtles that inhabit the dam. Imed Kacem is fighting to save them.
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00:00This is what's left of a reservoir in Menzel Tamim in northern Tunisia.
00:13The lake was once home to hundreds of turtles.
00:17Now for the first time since 1960, it's completely dry.
00:26Environmental activist Emad Qasim is assessing the damage.
00:30In this small remaining pond, he found some 200 turtles, whose lives are in great danger.
00:41If we don't relocate them, they'll only live for a few days or weeks.
00:45They're amphibious turtles, not land turtles.
00:48Without human intervention or heavy rains to fill the dam, they might survive for a
00:53day or even a month, but eventually they'll die.
00:59But Emad Qasim is a man on a mission.
01:02He wants to save the remaining turtle population.
01:05And today he's joined forces with several local environmentalists, scouts and officials
01:12to relocate the turtles.
01:15The reptiles play a crucial role in local ecosystems.
01:22Freshwater turtles are an essential link in the food chain and help to regulate invertebrate
01:30and algae populations.
01:33Their absence can upset this balance, with harmful consequences for the ecosystem as
01:37a whole.
01:40And this will be their new home, the Lebna Reservoir a few kilometers away.
01:45Its water levels are also lower than they used to be, but there's still enough to make
01:50it a suitable habitat for the endangered turtles.
01:57I want people to understand where we're heading.
02:00We're heading for drought and water scarcity.
02:02If that day comes for animals, then humans will be affected too, and maybe face even
02:07bigger consequences.
02:13Emad and his helpers are doing their bit to keep their environment livable for the turtles
02:19and themselves.