Zembra ( aeb, زمبرة ') is a

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

. The island is a rock formation, and as such contains many 400 metre-high

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on ...

s. It has an area of . Located from

El Haouaria El Haouaria is a coastal town and commune in the Nabeul Governorate, Tunisia. As of 2004 it had a population of 9,273. See also *List of cities in Tunisia This is the list of 350 cities and towns in Tunisia. In the list by governorate, c ...

and from the port of

La Goulette La Goulette (, it, La Goletta), in Arabic Halq al-Wadi ( '), is a municipality and the port of Tunis, Tunisia. La Goulette is located at around on a sandbar between Lake Tūnis and the Gulf of Tunis. The port, located 12km east of Tunis, is th ...

, it is a natural extension of the peninsula of

Cap Bon Cape Bon ("Good Cape") is a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia, also known as Ras at-Taib ( ar, الرأس الطيب), Sharīk Peninsula, or Watan el Kibli; Cape Bon is also the name of the northernmost point on the peninsula, also known as Ra ...

. Zembra is a natural fortress that housed a resort until 1976 and then passed into the hands of the

Tunisian army The Tunisian Land Army ( ar, جيش البر التونسي, Jaîsh el-Barr et'Tunsi, french: Armée de terre tunisienne) is the ground component of the Tunisian Armed Forces . The Land Forces Command is located in Bizerte. The TAF itself was c ...

. On the southern coast there are remains of an ancient harbour. Zembra is most probably the same as the island called Aegimouros ( grc, Αἰγίμορος) by many ancient writers.Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, §A42.3
/ref>

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

called both Zembra and

Zembretta Zembretta ( ar, الجامور الصغير) is an island located in the north-eastern Gulf of Tunis The Gulf of Tunis () is a large Mediterranean bay in north-eastern Tunisia, extending for from Cape Farina in the west to Cape Bon in the east ...

Aegimuri.

Environment

Zembra has a fragile

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

and has been classified as a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

since 1977. A rich biological reserve and the presence of rare species in Tunisia
''La Presse de Tunisie'', 26 September 2006 With the nearby island of Zembretta, it is also classified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(TN003). The island has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

. The native soils include rock, clay, sand and magnesium lime.

Flora and fauna

Zembra is a local hotspot (nano-hotspot) for the vascular flora on the scale of Tunisia, and an Important Plant Area (IPA) for North Africa. The island's vegetation consists of about 266 plant species; the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

is characterised by a canopy of dense bush, including

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

Phoenician juniper ''Juniperus phoenicea'', the Phoenicean juniper or Arâr, is a juniper found throughout the Mediterranean region. Description ''Juniperus phoenicea'' is a large shrub or small tree reaching tall, with a trunk up to in diameter and a rounded ...

and

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are ...

, and the presence of rare plants which favour saline soils. There are also invertebrates and terrestrial mammals introduced by man, such as rabbit, Corsican sheep, black rat and

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

Dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

s are also common in the waters surrounding the island. The

Mediterranean monk seal The Mediterranean monk seal (''Monachus monachus'') is a monk seal belonging to the family Phocidae. , it is estimated that fewer than 700 individuals survive in three or four isolated subpopulations in the Mediterranean, (especially) in the Ae ...

''Monachus monachus'' (CR) which used to visit the island, was last seen in 1975. In addition, Zembra is located on an avian migration route between Tunisia and the

Strait of Sicily The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; it, Canale di Sicilia or the Stretto di Sicilia; scn, Canali di Sicilia or Strittu di Sicilia, ar, مضيق ص ...

, and hosts more than 25,000 pairs of migrating birds which nest in the rocky cliffs. The island is home to the largest colony of

Scopoli's shearwater Scopoli's shearwater (''Calonectris diomedea'') is a seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. It breeds on rocky islands and on steep coasts in the Mediterranean but outside the breeding season it forages in the Atlantic. It is brownish grey ...

s in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

(20,000 breeding pairs). The 9 km of cliffs of the island also hold 10 breeding pairs of

Peregrine falcons The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, ...

''Falco peregrinus'', one of the highest densities known for this species. Other breeding birds include the rare

Audouin's gull Audouin's gull (''Ichthyaetus audouinii'') is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''ikhthus'', "fish", and ''aetos'', "eagle", and t ...

s ''Larus audouinii'' (10 pairs), European shags ''Phalacrocorax aristotelis'' and Caspian gulls ''Larus cachinnans'' (100 pairs). The island, along with the neighbouring islet of

, has been designated an

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

References

{{Coord, 37, 08, 10, N, 10, 48, 32, E, region:TN_type:isle, display=title Islands of Tunisia Uninhabited islands of Tunisia Biosphere reserves of Tunisia Important Bird Areas of Mediterranean islands Important Bird Areas of Tunisia Seabird colonies National parks of Tunisia