Sidi Boughaba is a long freshwater lake lying behind the Atlantic dunes near Mehdia, north of Rabat in Kénitra Province. Protected as a biological reserve since 1973 and added to the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance in 1980 with an area of 640 hectares, the lake itself stretches 5–6 kilometres and varies between roughly 150 and 200 hectares depending on rainfall. Its dune ridge carries a relict forest of red juniper, and more than 171 bird species have been recorded, including the globally threatened marbled teal. A national environmental education centre opened on the site in 1987.
