The lakes of Ounianga are a set of about fifty lakes, mostly with highly saline waters, occupying a basin between the Tibesti massifs in the west and Ennedi in the east. They include two main groups: the lakes of Ounianga Kebir, named after a neighboring village literally, the great Ounianga, and those of Ounianga Sérir the small Ounianga or Ounianga Teli, 60 km au South East. The lakes of Ounianga form the remainder of a larger lake that occupied the basin 5,000 to 15,000 years ago. They occupy a total area of 20 km2 and form the largest lake complex in the Sahara. The evaporation rate of the lakes is one of the highest in the world and the region experiences virtually no precipitation. The lakes are mainly fed by the fossil water table, created when the climate of the area was not desert, and which outcrops here .A better understanding of the environmental history and ecological resilience of these lakes can help better prepare for the global changes that are to come.
