Home > All our thematic selections > Oases
In the postcard cliché and the Orientalist fantasy an oasis is a green haven with life-giving water around a sun-drenched sand dune.
However, the oases¾‘islands in the desert’¾are not just stopovers on the caravan routes. They are complex areas, which have a wealth of material and immaterial heritage: there is a unique biodiversity around these water points, foggara/khettara water-supply systems, and architectural features (ksour) and cultural particularities.
The heritage has been undermined by urban development and climate change.
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