Indeed, the most suitable period to collect pinecones is during the autumn between October and November. They could be pickers from the same area or from other regions. The majority of people interviewed during the science to practice event recognize that it is not advisable to carry out premature harvests, but say that if they do not harvest the cones quickly, 'Free riders' will do so before them. The Administration organized auctions to sell the right to exploit these cones, but for more than 10 years, there have been fewer and fewer buyers because of the illegal harvests.įorests are managed and administrated by the state forest agency, which are perceived as being accessible to all. Over the last 15 years, a radical change in the practice of pinion pinecone harvesting has been observed. The Stone Pine forests in Nefza delegation covers more than 5000 Hectares. The total area of stone pine in Tunisia covers around 20000 Hectares. The stone pine has been introduced in Tunisia a long time ago the first plantations were carried out in the region of Dar Chichou (Cap Bon) and Rimel (Bizerte) at the end of the 19th century to fix the coastal dunes. Last November 13th, more than 30 persons attended the Science to Practice event held in the north west of Tunisia (Nefza) to explore Pine nuts extraction practices and the economic importance of this product to local population livelihood.