Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The Galite archipelago is situated 40 km off the coast of Tunisia, 45 km north-west of Cap Serrat and 64 km north-east of the town of Tabarka. The archipelago is dominated by the T-shaped main island of Galite (650 ha), which is 5.4 km long and c.950 m wide at the narrowest point and 2.5 km at the widest. About 2.5 km to the south-west of Galite is the low-lying islet of La Fauchelle (14 ha). The islet of Galiton lies only 50 m west of La Fauchelle, has an area of 27 ha and is topped by a lighthouse. A trio of small islets, the Ilôts de Chiens, lie 1.6 km north of Galite. The largest of these is less than 9 ha, but reaches an altitude of 119 m. Much of Galite is covered by ‘diss’,
Ampelodesma mauritanicus, a low grass that grows densely on hills. Elsewhere, the maquis vegetation grows so densely in places, particularly in valleys in the north-west of Galite, as to be impenetrable. Dominant species include
Pistacia lentiscus,
Olea europaea,
Tamarix africana,
Laurus nobilis,
Rosmarinus officinalis,
Scilla maritima,
Cynara scolymus and
Ceratonia siliqua.
See Box and Table 2 for key species. Breeding species include
Larus audouinii (40 pairs), as well as
Calonectris diomedea (fewer than 100 pairs),
Phalacrocorax aristotelis (10 pairs),
Larus cachinnans (500 pairs),
Falco peregrinus and
F. tinnunculus.
Non-bird biodiversity: The seal Monachus monachus (CR) used to occur, but has not been seen since 1986. The scorpion Euscorpus flavicaudis, confined to a number of Mediterranean islands, is present.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The site is likely to be declared a National Park. The seas surrounding the archipelago are a Marine Reserve.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Archipel de la Galite (Tunisia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/archipel-de-la-galite-iba-tunisia on 23/12/2024.
