Nature in Libya

Libya has three broad natural settings: the Mediterranean coast and coastal plains, northern highlands such as the Nafusa Mountains and Jabal Akhdar, and the Sahara, including Hamada al-Hamra, the Idhan Ubari and Murzuq sand seas, the Kufra Basin, Jabal al-Owainat, wadis and oases. About 93% of the country receives less than 100 millimetres of rain annually, and Libya has no perennial surface-water inflow. Water systems therefore depend heavily on non-renewable fossil groundwater, which makes oases, wetlands and irrigated agriculture especially sensitive to extraction and salinity. Coastal, mountain and desert ecosystems support more than 1,800 recorded plant species. Jabal Akhdar has the highest local plant diversity and includes Mediterranean shrubs, woodland and steppe. Desert and oasis vegetation includes date palms, Tamarix, Acacia tortilis, Ziziphus lotus and Stipagrostis. Coastal lagoons and wetland systems include Farwa, Ain Ziana, Bomba Bay and Ain Ghazala. The marine environment contains Posidonia oceanica seagrass across much of the coast and Cymodocea nodosa in some areas. Researchers recorded 343 marine mollusc species in 2020, while information about cetaceans remains limited; dolphins are documented, but nationwide monitoring is sparse. Conservation work focuses on striped hyenas, Greek tortoises, houbara, resident and migratory waterbirds, sea turtles, seagrass, marine fish and invertebrates. Caretta caretta is the principal studied nesting sea turtle, while Chelonia mydas and Dermochelys coriacea are recorded more rarely or irregularly. Libya's national Red Lists and assessments of endemic species were still planned in the available research, so the conservation status of some species remains uncertain. The Ministry of Environment and its Department of Natural Conservation are the main formal bodies for nature protection. The Marine Biology Research Centre in Tajura contributes to marine research. Ministry programmes include the Winter Waterbird Survey and the Libyan Sea Turtle Program. Libya has been a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity since 10 October 2001, and its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan covers 2023 to 2030. Libyan protection categories include nature reserves, forests, wildlife and marine resources under the country's wildlife framework, commonly cited as Law 15/1371. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan reports 15 existing reserves and set a management-plan target for 2025, but the operational status of individual sites and their management plans requires local verification. A May 2021 World Database on Protected Areas snapshot listed five reported protected areas, covering 0.1% of land, or 2,084.2 square kilometres, and 0.6% of marine areas, or 2,267.9 square kilometres. These figures are not directly equivalent to national reserve counts. No other effective area-based conservation measure was recorded in that snapshot. Ashaafean Biosphere Reserve in northeastern Nafusa was established by government decree in 1978 and includes dry woodland, steppe and hyper-arid Sahara. Its recorded core covers 83,060 hectares, and the area supports striped hyenas, Greek tortoises and houbara. Traditional agriculture, wood gathering and beekeeping continue there, with about 65,000 residents reported for the reserve area. Libya also has two Ramsar wetlands, Ain Elshakika and Ain Elzarga, designated on 5 April 2000 in the Jabal al Akhdar and Darnah-Tobruk region. Together they cover 83 hectares and include hypersaline sebkhas, mudflats, salt marshes, dunes, sea connections and springs that support migratory waterbirds. Nature is used for marine fishing, pastoral grazing, oasis agriculture, local beach and picnic activities, research and potential birdwatching or ecotourism. Access depends on the site and security conditions. No reliable nationwide schedule for visitor bookings, fees or permits was established in the available research. Research access should be arranged through the competent authority. Turtle nesting activity is mainly associated with summer, while winter surveys focus on waterbirds. Wildlife hunting requires a licence or permission, and hunting in protected areas is prohibited except for authorised scientific research. Explosives, toxic substances and other harmful fishing methods are prohibited. Forest cutting, fires, waste dumping and unauthorised grazing or other use can be restricted or prohibited under the applicable framework, but current implementing rules and penalties should be checked locally. Major pressures include overgrazing, slow pasture recovery, agricultural and urban expansion, deforestation, charcoal production, drought, heat, desertification, soil salinisation, wildfire, invasive species, untreated sewage, solid waste, pesticides, fertilisers, oil and bilge pollution, destructive fishing, overfishing, sand extraction and destruction of turtle eggs or nests. Conservation can therefore conflict with fishing, grazing, farming, settlement and tourism. General leisure, disaster response, archaeology and pollution issues without a direct nature impact belong to other subject areas.