HAMMAMET, Tunisia: In the Tunisian coastal city of Hammamet, bulldozers are busily shoveling sand from a nearby desert onto a popular beach in an effort to prevent it from disappearing due to erosion.
“This beach is the postcard image of Hammamet,” said environmentalist Chiheb Ben Fredj, looking nostalgically at the city's iconic Yasmine beach.
“It has burned in our minds since our childhood,” he added, as workers worked to restore the central Tunisian promenade to its former sandy glory.
Like many other coastal areas in North Africa, severe erosion has seen many of Hammamet's sandy beaches disappear in recent years, taking a toll on the resort some 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of the capital, Tunis.
Coastlines around the world are in a constant state of natural flux, with oceans claiming and depositing sediment.
However, human activity, including coastal property development and offshore sand mining, significantly accelerates beach erosion.
Among other things, construction and coastal defenses in an area can stop sediment from traveling along a coastline, depriving existing beaches of new material.
Studies have also shown that the effects of climate change, including rising temperatures and sea levels, are exacerbating the phenomenon.
In the Mediterranean, where the British National Oceanography Center says sea levels have risen at a faster rate in the past 20 years than in the entire 20th century, coastlines are changing rapidly.
The ocean is also warming 20 percent faster than the rest of the world, according to the UN.
Tunisia's coastline has been a major asset for the Mediterranean country with a struggling economy, as it aims to welcome around 10 million tourists this year.
Tourism accounts for up to 14 percent of the country's GDP, which provides tens of thousands of jobs in a country where unemployment tops 16 percent and 40 percent among young people.
Tunisia has already lost more than 90 kilometers of beaches to erosion, according to official figures from last year.
Of the country's 570 kilometers of sandy beaches suitable for swimming, 190 kilometers are in imminent danger of disappearing, according to Tunisian reports.
A majority of the beaches most affected by erosion are located near cities.
Tunisia's environmental groups, as well as the government's Coastal Protection and Development Agency (APAL), blame the rapid erosion mostly on human activity and construction on the coast, which they say is further exacerbated by climate change.
“Construction projects have not been designed to respect coastal dynamics,” an APAL official told AFP.
To save Hammamet beach, one of Tunisia's worst affected according to the World Bank, authorities last month began loading about 750 trucks filled with sand from the desert province of Kairouan, about 110 kilometers away.
APAL, which operates under the Ministry of Environment, was in a race against time to replenish the beach before the peak tourist season.
But while the rebuilding of beaches, known as beach nourishment, can be a quick fix, “it's not a sustainable solution,” Ben Fredj said.
“This sand may not last long,” added the general secretary of the Environmental Education Association.
“It could be swallowed in a few days in the event of a storm,” he said, as was the case in the summer of 2023.
The process can also prove to be expensive.
Coastal authorities estimated the cost of restoring sand to three beaches in Hammamet, Monastir and Sfax at 3.9 million Tunisian dinars ($1.25 million).
But for locals, restoring their priceless seafront is worth the money.
Yasmine beach “is a showcase for Hammamet,” said Narjess Bouasker, who runs the city's Menara hotel and heads the regional hotel federation.
“We need to take back our beach that the sea has swallowed,” she said, calling for a balance between protecting the landscape, cherished by locals and foreign visitors alike, and combating coastal erosion.
“For us, the priority is not to disturb the beauty of the city,” she said.
Bouasker said she has seen an increase in awareness among authorities, but replenishing the beaches with sand is still a gamble.
“We don't know how the ocean will react,” she added.
