Background Algeria’s environment is seriously threatened by a lack of environmental conscience and low administrative capacity in this domain. Strategies to counter threats to the environment are urgently needed. As part of the Programme ‘National d'Action pour l'Environnement’, the Ministry of Land-Use Planning and Environment (MATE) has adopted an action plan and identified immediate priorities. These include strengthening the environmental administrations, the environmental monitoring network and legislative tools. Objectives The general objectives of the project were to contribute to the development of an environmental culture, draw up national policies on the environment, reinforce administrative capacities and raise awareness among the general population, in particular the youth. Specifically, the project aimed to create a centre that collects information on the environment, provides training and promotes environmental awareness in order to: • Increase environmental conscience; • Train counsellors and guides who will ensure continual training services in environmental protection; • Establish inventories of threatened fauna and flora species and rare and fragile • Encourage research on migratory animal species; • Establish a system for collecting, expanding, managing and disseminating information on the environment; and • Create a structure for the exchange of information and experience between countries of the Mediterranean area and the Maghreb. Results Several initiatives of the project were directed at school children and local authorities to involve them in efforts to preserve the environment. As part of the project, a centre for collecting and distributing information and increasing environmental consciousness was founded. Inventories of rare and endangered species were also set up and research into migratory species was supported. The centre at Bentalha will serve as a model for the creation of other centres in Algeria. The beneficiary also launched a demonstration park, which includes a teaching farm and a museum focusing on ecology, in the Bouchaoui forest. The beneficiary, FOREM, published a great number of brochures and guides aimed at the general public. Activities aimed to develop an environmentally conscious outlook among the very young were also successfully carried out. Moreover, the project also disseminated environmental knowledge among key managers at both local and central levels. The project strengthened the contacts with local and national authorities and with the population, contributing to its positive impact. The extended network for supervising environmental initiatives is also a key aspect.