Forest Conservation Authority of Algiers

The Conservation of Forests of Algiers is a public territorial body of the Algerian State responsible for managing the forests of the Wilaya of Algiers. It operates under the supervision of the Directorate General of Forests and is based in Algiers.

WWW dgf.org.dz

History

The Conservation of Forests of Algiers was created by decree No. 95–201 on 25 July 1995. Its organization, under the authority of the Directorate General of Forests, defined by decree No. 95-333 of 25 October 1995.
The CFA's mission is to plan, administer, protect, develop and manage the forest and alfa patrimony in the Wilaya of Algiers, within the framework of the national and wilaya forest policy.

Organisation

The CFA is organised into services and offices, adapted to the specific needs of the Wilaya of Algiers. These services are limited by regulation.
The CFA is subdivided into forest districts and units whose number and internal organisation are fixed by ministerial order. Each CFA district typically corresponds territorially to a daïra and to forest districts corresponding to communes.

Conservators

The head of the CFA is the Conservator of Forests of Algiers. The Conservator manages human, material and financial resources placed at their disposal and is the secondary authorising officer for credits allocated to the conservation. The Conservator is appointed by executive decree on the minister's proposal.

#	Conservator	Start	End
1	Chaâbane Cheriet		18 February 2006
2	Saâdoun Chaïb	1 June 2006	29 December 2011
3	Noureddine Baâziz	29 December 2011	2016

Technical staff

The DGF and the CFA employ several senior technical posts, including:

Forestry engineers and forest experts
Radio communications network chiefs
Forest ranger and brigade chiefs
Technical forest agents

Mandate and missions

The CFA implements programmes and measures for the development, protection and expansion of forest and alfa patrimony, and for the conservation of land subject to erosion and desertification.
It organises and supervises the exploitation of forest products and other uses of forest land within the framework of forest management plans. It coordinates measures to prevent and fight forest fires that ravage the forests.
The CFA enforces forest legislation and regulation, instructs applications for authorisations provided by forestry law, maintains inventories of forest, alfa and game resources, and implements programmes for development, conservation, education and public awareness.
It gathers relevant information and disseminates it in order to produce periodic reports and evaluations of its activities.

Activities

The CFA's main activities in the Wilaya of Algiers include:

Compiling seasonal reports on fires and other incidents.
Maintaining an emergency response system for wildfires.
Creating forest-related employment.
Supporting local populations to remain on and manage their lands.
Enhancing the green cover of the Algiers region.

Forest patrimony

The CFA manages more than 130 forest sites across the Wilaya of Algiers covering several thousand hectares, many of them in peri-urban and urban environments. Planned opening of new forest sites aims at increasing urban green cover and reducing pressure on the larger surrounding forests such as Baïnem, Ben Aknoun, Réghaïa, Sidi Fredj and Zéralda.

Reforestation

The CFA participates in national reforestation programmes and undertakes replanting operations to stabilise soils and limit erosion, and along highways and public infrastructure. Annual technical and biological programmes commonly address several hundred hectares to preserve forest environments.

Facilities and specialised centres

Réghaïa Game Management Centre

The CFA administers the Réghaïa Game Management Centre located within the Réghaïa forest area. Created by decree No. 83-75, the centre was later developed to manage the Réghaïa nature reserve and to support wetland conservation under Ramsar objectives. The center's mission is to monitor game production, birdlife, and raise public awareness of the importance of their work..

Zéralda Game Management Centre

The CFA also operates the Zéralda Game Management Centre in the Zéralda forest, historically initiated in 1968 for game breeding. The centre was legally recognised in 1983 and now focuses on biodiversity, ecosystem management and controlled hunting activities. It has also developed programs for reintroduction and protection of species such as the Barbary stag.