Malika Hachid

"I was first deputy director, then director. But in fact, that’s not at all what I wanted to do."

"I was never drawn to management. Since there aren’t enough executives, researchers in our countries are called on to take on various responsibilities."

"When there are only five or six prehistorians for all of Algeria, for example, there is everything to do at once."

"The Park’s headquarters had just been moved to Djanet, and the officials who had been running the Park did not want to go there."

"That’s how I accepted to be the Park’s director, a position that was far from easy."

"life was very difficult. We worked under extremely harsh conditions in a territory the size of a country."

"Without resources, no budget, no vehicles."

"Everything had to be done. As a result, the task and responsibility were enormous."

"My greatest joy was being out in the field all the time."

"From a manager’s perspective, because when you are responsible for a territory of 114,000 km², you have to be everywhere."

"There are regulations governing the park, the headquarters is in Djanet, and you have to go check whether the brigades are functioning."

"What problems they face, how tourist traffic is going, set up infrastructure ensure that it doesn’t disrupt the environment."

"I was shown the door! There’s nothing unusual about that ."

"How many victims of the system are there? I’m neither the first nor the last."

"When you are faced with certain situations, your conscience tells you to leave, that’s all."

"I’m nowhere."

"I really would have liked to stay in Djanet, in the Tassili, and then make the necessary trips for research, documentation."

"That wasn’t possible, so I’m a bit of a nomad."

"Here, I stay; there, I have a job, I try to make a living then I travel for the publication of a book, for its promotion."

"I leave again, because I have to take on a small job, wherever it may be, I go, even if it’s in Australia."

"And for me, these are essential points of reference."

"When I move away a little that is, when I’m in Paris I walk with my head up"

"I need to see the sky. Even if there’s no sun and it’s winter"

"The first thing I do is look up."

"It’s my way of returning to the desert. Because I know that this dose of sky will be beneficial for me throughout the day."

"If I pass through a park, I’ll stop."

"I’ll eat my sandwich in the cold, at 2 degrees."

"I need to see a tree, greenery around me."