#TourismImpact

The popular Tunisian island of Djerba, steeped in centuries-old traditions and religious heritage, is facing an unprecedented crisis as its unique cultural legacy comes under assault from mass tourism, institutional neglect, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. This convergence of pressures threatens not just the island’s architectural treasures, but the very continuity of its traditional ways of life—raising alarms for heritage preservationists and tourism-dependent communities across North Africa and beyond.

Tunisia’s culturally rich island of Djerba confronts an unprecedented convergence of existential challenges as mass tourism pressures, institutional neglect, and accelerating climate change impacts combine to threaten one of the Mediterranean’s most significant multicultural heritage sites. This crisis encompasses not merely architectural preservation concerns but the fundamental survival of centuries-old traditional ways of life, creating urgent implications for heritage conservation efforts throughout Southeast Asia and beyond, including Thailand’s own vulnerable cultural landscapes.