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Ecotourism is an emerging regional development strategy that could foster economic growth, diversification of activities and regional autonomy in natural areas such as forest areas and protected areas. These territories are socio-economically marginalized in Tunisia as a consequence of a national policy that has inhibited the development of some regions in relation to others. Tunisian protected areas, for example, have the particularity of containing, in addition to endemic fauna and flora, a local population with know-how. Managed by the forest administration, protected areas are subject to protection and conservation legislation that has a negative impact on the socio-economic situation of the population. Following the emergence of a national desire for regional balance and subsequently an environmental policy, a social dimension has developed among managers concerned with deploying strategies that reconcile development and conservation. Ecotourism was a solution to develop an economic activity centered on the development of natural resources. Several ecotourism studies and projects have been developed for the occasion within protected areas, particularly in the Ichkeul and Cap Negro areas. Despite these efforts, this activity remains rudimentary and Tunisia has only been able to create a mono-product offer of mass tourism. This thesis attempts to provide some answers to this dysfunction. This diagnosis is made by an evaluation of the sustainability of the work identified in protected areas in order to detect their weaknesses. Then an evaluation of the ecotourism system was performed using a methodology of modelling by cognitive maps with MICMAC and MACTOR software. Indeed, based on the principle that ecotourism is a form of development based on interaction and collaboration between stakeholders in a participatory governance system. The first objective of this method is to make a structural analysis (MICMAC) in order to define the ecotourism concept in Tunisian protected areas and to determine, according to the perception of the stakeholders, the indicators that most influence Tunisian ecotourism activities. Secondly, to conduct a stakeholder analysis (MACTOR) in order to identify the disproportionate power relations that can destabilize the governance system of the current ecotourism model in Tunisia.; L’écotourisme se positionne comme une stratégie de développement régional qui pourrait assurer la croissance économique et l’autonomie régionale dans des zones naturelles telles que les espaces forestières. Ces territoires sont en Tunisie marginalisés suite à une politique nationale ayant freiné leurs développements. Les aires protégées tunisiennes, par exemple, ont la particularité d’abriter, outre une faune et une flore endémiques, une population locale avec un savoir-faire hérité des générations passées et actuelles. Gérées par l’administration forestière, les aires protégées sont soumises à une législation axée sur la protection et la conservation qui aggrave la situation socio-économique des habitants. Suite à l’émergence d’une volonté nationale d’équilibre régional et par la suite d’une politique environnementale, une préoccupation sociale s’est développée chez les gestionnaires soucieux de mettre en œuvre des stratégies qui concilient développement et conservation. L’écotourisme formait une solution pour développer une activité économique de valorisation de richesses naturelles. Lors d’un recensent établie au cadre de cette thèse, on a pu montrer que plusieurs travaux écotouristiques ont été élaborés aux parcs d’Ichkeul et Cap Negro. En dépit de ces efforts, cette activité reste rudimentaire et la Tunisie n’a pu créer qu’une offre touristique classique. Cette thèse vise à apporter des éléments de réponse face à ce dysfonctionnement. Ce diagnostic est fait par une évaluation de la durabilité des travaux recensés dans les aires protégées afin de déceler leurs défaillances. Ensuite, une évaluation systémique de l’état de l’écotourisme a été réalisée grâce à une méthodologie de modélisation par des cartes cognitives avec les logiciels MICMAC et MACTOR. Partant du principe que l’écotourisme est une forme de développement basée sur une interaction et une collaboration entre les intervenants dans un système de gouvernance participatif, nous cherchons à définir le concept de l’écotourisme dans les AP et à mener une analyse des acteurs afin de déceler le déséquilibre dans le système de gouvernance actuelle.

Since the 2000s, projects and studies have been multiplied for the development of ecotourism in Tunisian protected areas. Despite these efforts, the Tunisian case faces several failures. As part of this study, we aim to provide elements of reflection on a contractual scheme for a sustainable territorial development plan by ecotourism, around mountain protected areas in Tunisia. For this reason, we adopted the strategic prospective analysis revealing and analyzing the relationships between the different actors involved in ecotourism in the protected area. A Matrix of Alliances, Conflicts, Tactics and Objectives among MACTOR actors was developed in a participatory way to analyze the actors' strategies. After doing a triangular analysis which consists in to an inventory of the projects and studies about the protected area of Ichkeul and Cape Negro-Jbel Chitana, semi-structured interviews with personals from different sectors, we invited the actors met on the field or mentioned in the projects in a workshop organized in partnership with the General Directorate of Forests in Tunis in order to identify the different categories of actors and analyze the balance of power between them. This analysis is done through a matrix notation system. Eight categories of actors have been identified: international cooperation, resource managers, politic policy etc. Thanks to the matrix notation systems, we have been able in a participative way to classify these eight categories of actors into four types: dominant actors, relay actors, autonomous actors and dominated actors. Thus, the MACTOR method allowed us to identify actors who played a role in the development of ecotourism projects in Tunisia and to be able to diagnose their balance of power. This allowed showing the multidisciplinarity and complexity of the sector as well as the strong influence of certain actors such as international cooperation and public decision-makers. To conclude, the MACTOR analysis of the ecotourism actors in the protected area of Ichkeul and Cap Negro-Jbel Chitana enters into a methodology of prospective territorial analysis in this area to understand the points that caused the failure of several experiments.