Editing Geography of Algeria (section)

==Terrain==
{| class="infobox"
! Land use 
| (2014 est.)
|-
! • Arable land
| 18.02%
|-
! • Permanent crops
| 2.34% 
|-
!• Permanent pastures
!79.63%
|-
!• Forest
!0.82%
|-
! • Other
| 81.80% 
|-
! Irrigated land
| {{convert|13,600|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|}
[[File:Flii algeria.png|thumb|[[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] 2018 map of Northern Algeria. Forest condition measured by degree of anthropogenic modification. 0 = most modification; 10= least.|300px]]

Clearing of land for agricultural use and cutting of timber over the centuries have severely reduced the once bountiful forest wealth.<ref name=":2">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Algeria: a country study|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]], [[Library of Congress]]|location=Washington, D.C.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/94043019/|last=Deeb|first=Mary-Jane|date=1993|editor-last=Metz|editor-first=Helen Chapin|pages=75–76|language=English|isbn=|oclc=44230753|postscript=. {{PD-notice}}|entry=Terrain}}</ref> Forest fires have also taken their toll.<ref name=":2" /> In the higher and wetter portions of the Tell Atlas, cork oak and Aleppo pine grow in thick soils.<ref name=":2" /> At lower levels on thinner soils, drought-resistant shrubs predominate.<ref name=":2" /> The grapevine is indigenous to the coastal lowlands, and grasses and scrub cover the High Plateaus.<ref name=":2" /> On the Saharan Atlas, little survives of the once extensive forests of Atlas cedar that have been exploited for fuel and timber since antiquity.<ref name=":2" />

The forest reserves in Algeria were severely reduced during the colonial period.<ref name=":2" /> In 1967 it was calculated that the country's forested area extended over no more than {{Convert|24000|km2}} of terrain, of which {{Convert|18000|km2|abbr=on}} were overgrown with brushwood and scrub.<ref name=":2" /> By contrast, woodlands in 1830 had covered {{Convert|40000|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=":2" /> In the mid-1970s, however, the government embarked on a vast reforestation program to help control erosion, which was estimated to affect {{Convert|100000|m3}} of arable land annually.<ref name=":2" /> Among projects was one to create a barrage vert (green barrier) more or less following the ridge line of the Saharan Atlas and extending from Morocco to the Tunisian frontier in a zone {{Convert|1500|km}} long and up to {{Convert|20|km}} wide.<ref name=":2" />

In Algeria [[forest cover]] is around 1% of the total land area, equivalent to 1,949,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 1,667,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 1,439,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 510,000 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be [[primary forest]] (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 6% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 80% of the forest area was reported to be under [[State ownership|public ownership]], 18% [[Private property|private ownership]] and 2% with ownership listed as other or unknown.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/a6e225da-4a31-4e06-818d-ca3aeadfd635/content |title=Terms and Definitions FRA 2025 Forest Resources Assessment, Working Paper 194 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, Algeria |url=https://fra-data.fao.org/assessments/fra/2020/DZA/home/overview |website=Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations}}</ref>

The barrage vert consists principally of Aleppo pine, a species that can thrive in areas of scanty rainfall.<ref name=":2" /> It is designed to restore a damaged ecological balance and to halt the northern encroachment of the Sahara.<ref name=":2" /> By the early 1980s, the desert had already penetrated the hilly gap between the Saharan Atlas and the Aurès Mountains as far as the town of Bou Saâda, a point well within the High Plateaus region.<ref name=":2" /> The barrage vert project was ended in the late 1980s because of lack of funds.<ref name=":2" />

Algeria had a 2018 [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] mean score of 5.22/10, ranking it 106th globally out of 172 countries.<ref name="FLII-Supplementary">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity - Supplementary Material|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Statistics===
'''Natural resources:''' petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc<ref name="factbook" />

'''Natural hazards:''' mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season<ref name="factbook" />

{{anchor|Environmental issues}}'''Environment – current issues:''' air pollution in major cities; [[soil erosion]] from overgrazing and other poor farming practices; [[desertification]]; dumping of raw sewage, petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water<ref name=factbook>{{cite book|author=Central Intelligence Agency|title=The CIA World Factbook 2020-2021|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJq5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT158|date=2 June 2020|publisher=Skyhorse|isbn=978-1-5107-5826-1|page=158}}</ref>

'''Environment – international agreements:'''
''party to:'' Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban<ref name=factbook/>