Tunisian coastlines were identified as the ones receding the fastest at the Mediterranean basin averaging 64 cm per year with annual losses estimated at 3% of GDP. Few datasets on local coastal erosion assessment are available and, with climate change, historic data are no longer adequate for planning and decision-making. A shortage of local skills in coastal erosion risk management further exacerbates the problem. 

OceanogRaphIc and Ecological dAta for Nature-based coasTAl proTEction (ORIENTATE), implemented by Alfred-Wegener-Institut (AWI) and University of Sfax (US), attempts to facilitate the adaptive governance of the coastal erosion risks in Tunisia by providing sustainable, cost-effective data and developing a living lab of nature-based mitigation.  

The project expects to help to secure the livelihoods of coastal communities and costal erosion mitigation through a sustainable and tested concept for maintaining observational oceanographic data and a proven practical approach to secure the coastal areas by seagrass plantation. To that end, the project will be co-designed and implemented with key stakeholder groups (e.g. national and local government representatives, local community representative, NGO specialists, researchers, private sector, etc.) to ensure local acceptance and project sustainability.