Article

The coast of Mostaganem (Algeria), an "important area for plants" (ZIP) as much neglected as threatened. – The flora of the coastline of Mostaganem still till nowadays remains very little known, even though it has been historically very well studied, like the whole Oran’s coastal area. The objective of our study is to inventory the local plant diversity and define its state of conservation with a view to possible recognition of the region as an Important Plant Area (IPA). We used the criteria of irreplaceability, rarity, endemism, protection and threat for each taxon. A total of 54 species and/or subspecies with patrimonial value distributed over all of the 15 studied sites, including 9 IPA trigger species distributed over 11 of the 15 sites. This therefore justifies the consideration of two IPAs, one concerning the entire coastline on both sides of the town of Mostaganem whereas the other concerning the entire lower Cheliff valley. Several taxa have already disappeared from some coastal sites, and a historic coastal site has already been completely depleted in trigger and patrimonial taxa. Despite the legal protection of some of these species, their biotopes continue to be degraded or even destroyed by urbanization and tourist development on the coast. Controlling these developments by raising awareness among the authorities, and reducing tourist pressure by raising public awareness is a priority to be undertaken urgently for the conservation of the plant diversity of patrimonial value in Mostaganem and Algeria.