PREPARED BY OMAR M'HIRIT
Director of the National Forestry Engineering School
Salé, Morocco
The Moroccan forests and woodlands extend over an area encompassing nine million hectares, made up of more than thirty complex and diversified landed ecosystems which comprise a very wide range of bioclimates, from the Saharan to the perhumid, as well as the high mountain bioclimates. From time immemorial, these land areas have constituted a fundamental and vital element in the lives of their inhabitantsi and have supplied them with a variety of different products, namely, timber, wood for industrial use and for fires, cork, as well as other non-ligneous products such as esparto paper and aromatic and medicinal plants. Furthermore, the production of the forested regions, which has been estimated at 1.5 billion forage units, or 17% of national forage production, constitutes one of the most important aspects of the pastoral use of these ecosystems. It goes without saying that the management, exploitation and conservation of this group of ecosystems is a task that poses a considerable number of problems of an ecological, technical, economic and social order.
Consequently, the need for a training and research system that would, at one and the same time, assume responsibility for the study of the fundamental problems in this sector and provide for the technical and socio-economic needs related to the rational management of the forestry ecosystems, has, for more than half-century in Morocco, led to the creation of the appropriate teaching, training and research institutions. The option of having a training system on two simultaneous levels, that of the engineer and that of the technician, has thus been maintained.
The global changes that have occurred in forestry policies and their implications with regard to the sustainable management of natural resources and environmental protection have brought about a thoroughgoing review and analysis of teaching and research systemsiiiii Forestry teaching has of course been part of this ever-changing scene.
After having outlined the problems related to the management and conservation of Morocco's forests and wooded areas, this paper will offer an analysis of the present forestry education system as well as its future tendencies. We shall analyze the conception and evaluation of the training curriculum, which is directly affected by the evolution of the forestry sector's environmental context as well as its future strategy. Emphasis has been placed on the approaches and methods that are needed for updating teaching programmes in this area.
The Kingdom of Morocco covers a 715,000 km2 area. Its geographical location between the Mediterranean Sea on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Sahara on the south, as well as the considerable extent of its mountain ranges, some of whose peaks exceed 4,000 m, have provided the country with a great variety of bioclimates (ranging from the Saharan bioclimate to the arid, semi-arid, subhumid, humid and high-mountain climates), as well as an extremely large bioecological diversity (4,700 plant species of which 537 are endemic, 106 species of mammals, 326 species of birds, etc.). The country's forests and wooded areas occupy nine million hectares, or 12% of the national territory.
The following table shows the country's phytogeographical areas and its types of forests:
THE MAGHREB'S PHYTOGEOGRAPHICAL AREAS AND FOREST TYPES
Thuya forests: Teraclinis articulata Juniper forests: Juniperus phoenicea, J.thurifera, J. communis Cedar forests: Cedrus atlantica Fir forests: Abies marocana, A.numidica Oleolenticetum tree formation: Olea europea, Pistacia atlantica,Ceratonia ciliqua |
Morocco is a predominantly agricultural country. Water and land are the basic elements in the development of this sector. These two resources are for the most part dependent upon the condition of the forest ecosystems. In point of fact, the forest formations are presently subject to a large number of constraints, principally including (i) the over-exploitation of resources in order to satisfy the needs of rural populations; (ii) the pressures caused by urban expansion; and (iii) the low level of investment and management in the forestry sector. These constraints have brought about diverse forms of degradation, which have notably resulted in the disappearance of the equivalent of 30,000 hectares of forests annually.
The Moroccan forestry sector is almost entirely part of the State's private domains. The management of this forest domain is subject to a series of twenty-four legislative and statutory decrees centered around a single law: the "Dahir" emanated on the 10th of October 1917 with regard to the conservation and exploitation of the forests, which officially consecrates the inalienable property rights of the forest domains.
Forests are multifunctional and multi-use wooded areas whose development and management are difficult to perfect; some of the functions in question are often competitive, and occasionally incompatible with one another, and they can vary in their relative importance and priority, both in time and space. The problems related to usage rights could also complicate management; while resource renewal is difficult, uncertain and slow to achieve. Land that is located outside the forest areas and that is technically able to be reforested is rare and often desired for agricultural use.
In this manner then, the forestry problem is both of an environmental and a socio-economic order; it conditions the political strategies and choices relating to forest development and environmental protection, as well as the road that should be followed in matters relating to education, training and research.
Created in 1948 and reorganized in 1960, ITREF trains forestry technicians for managing forestry units. The technician's training prepares him or her in a practical manner to be the person who will carry out and translate in practice the programmes and actions that have been conceived, planned and organized at a higher level. The technician, furthermore, is trained to be able to completely adapt to the forestry milieu as well as the rural environment, and he or she must therefore possess the necessary personal qualities of courage, tenacity and the ability to deal with any situation that arises.
The students chosen for this training should have the Secondary School General Certificate of Education, and they are recruited by means of a competition and a test based on the selection criteria linked to the particular conditions that prevail when working in forest areas, namely, physical aptitude, moral qualities and intellectual capabilities. The training course is of a two-year duration.
The training programme for technicians is multipurpose, qualifying and operational; its frame of reference relates to a variety of different professional tasks, ranging from being the manager of a forest area, exploiting and mobilizing forestry products, serving as a forestry police officer, managing a hunting or aquaculture reserve, or working as a research technician. The training course is conducted in accordance with the rules of paramilitary discipline and includes scientifically-based subject matter as well as technical, juridical, administrative and socio-economic disciplines, working exercises, practical work sessions in the forest and training periods in the forestry services which place the trainees in true-to-life professional situations. Trained in this manner, the students are considered to be operational as soon as they leave the school. ITREF has trained 812 technical agents and 792 technicians since it commenced its training programmes. The school's graduates include 357 French citizens and 8 Mauretanians.
Before 1968, forestry cadres as well as both field and conceptual engineers received their professional training in France for the most part, at the "École des Barres" and the National Rural and Forestry Engineering School in Nancy, respectively. During the course of the first meeting in Tunis in 1967 of the first Maghreb Forestry Week, the administrative heads of the Maghreb countries agreed on the principle of training the higher cadres their countries needed. The similar nature of the ecological and socio-economic conditions in these countries made it both possible and desirable to conceive and carry out a specific form of training that would be better adapted to the needs and realities that exist in this part of the Mediterranean basin.
Consequently, the National Forestry Engineering School (ENFI) was created for this purpose in 1968, with the support of UNDP and in accordance with FAO's "Forestry Education and Training Project", in order to answer the need of providing higher forestry cadres for the Maghreb countries. In 1975, the training programme was expanded to include other African and Near Eastern countries. Since its creation, ENFI has trained 760 forestry engineers, including 485 Moroccan engineers and 265 foreign engineers representing more than twenty nationalities.
The training provided by ENFI is principally centered upon the conservation, development and sustainable management of forests and natural resources, as well as the furthering of mountain economies. Training is carried out in three cycles of two years each, as the following table indicates. It is relatively multipurpose, but the degree of this multipurpose training and the analysis and synthesis capabilities that are imparted are strengthened by the scientific, technical and socio-economic training the students receive, as well as by the solid knowledge they are provided with in the areas of forestry economy, planning, organization and administration. Students are required to submit a research thesis at the conclusion of their forestry engineering training cycle.
Secondary School General Certificate of Education | |
Competition | |
ENFI, concurrently with its education and training mission, provides a vital contribution to the creation of research studies and programmes in the different forestry domains, in conformity with the orientations and needs of the Forestry Department.
The Maghreb has nonetheless continued to diversify its training programmes during the course of the past decades. A number of the cadres of forestry engineers, researchers or instructor-researchers have been trained in European and North American institutes and universities, particularly in France, Belgium, the United States and Canada, within the framework of existing cooperation programmes.
Training and research are organized within the framework of four departments:
These departments are supported by specialized botany, pedology, geomatics, biometry and computer laboratories. Two authorities, the Interior School Council and the Advanced Training Council coordinate and guide the education, training and research activitiesiv
ENFI participates in the preparation and execution of the national forestry development projects. It also makes a considerable contribution to forestry administration activities, with regard to the preparation of economic and social development plans, the preparation of reforesting programmes, the battle against erosion, forestry development, as well as controlling and following up the work carried out by research institutions, etc. Collaboration with research and higher education institutions is developed within the framework of global conventions and agreements. This collaboration results in the creation of exchanges, conferences, mutual research efforts, etc.
At the international level, ENFI has always benefited from the support of FAO, USAID and the French and Spanish Cooperation Institutions, with regard to both the furnishing of equipment and the training of trainers. This support has enabled us to establish working relationships with a number of foreign organizations in France, Spain and the United States, which have resulted at the present time in the creation of research conventions. Within the framework of regional support activities, ENFI has been chosen as the Regional Centre for Specialized Agriculture Training (CRESA) in the field of arid and semi-arid Mediterranean forestry.
In spite of the fact that the research in question is principally dependent upon the forestry research centres and institutes located in three countries, namely, the National Forestry Research Institute (INRF) in Algeria, the National Forestry Research Centre (CNRF) in Morocco and the National Rural Engineering and Forestry Institute (INGREF) in Tunisia, all of them within the departments that supervise agriculture and forestry, a number of different higher education institutions, universities and scientific research institutes develop their research in the forestry sector. Examples that can be cited are: the Agadir Faculty of Sciences which centres its research on the Arganier system and the Medenine Research Institute which orients its research on the problems related to sylvopastoralism and the battle against desertification, in the widest sense, in southern Tunisia.
The research is carried out on two levels. The first level consists of an activity which forms part of the framework for the preparation and completion of the 3rd cycle student theses, or the doctoral theses written in collaboration with other training institutions. The second level is concerned with applied research carried out within a conventional framework; it enables the student to contribute to the solution of problems posed in the forestry and environmental areas. Foreign students are allowed sufficient latitude to enable them to carry out their 3rd cycle research work in their home countries, under the joint supervision of ENFI and the institution where the student commenced training.
From the moment that forestry training was begun, continual efforts were made to adapt this training to the evolution taking place in the needs of both forestry and society. This evolution was marked by three fundamental tendencies. The first remains centered on forestry management; the second aims to include different aspects related to the environment, or at the very least, those aspects related to safeguarding the development of resources; while the third seeks to transcend the first two tendencies and to place responsibility with regard to the forestry domain or that of the environment to cadres having largely polyvalent functions, capable of dealing with the syntheses resulting from the global development of rural areas.
Evaluation in the area of education and training has been defined as a continuing and systematic process, which consists in estimating the present or the potential value of training programmes. The process consists in defining criteria in function of the concerns of the persons who are intended to receive the evaluation in question, as well as in assembling the data relative to these criteria and in providing the information that deals with these concerns. The fundamental objective of any evaluation is generally to determine the measure to which the training programme has achieved its goals and objectives. It can therefore provide an orientation framework for the future, as well as contribute to improve the programme being followed and thereby constitute a basis for the future planning of training programmesv
Training evaluation is based upon the choice of a certain number of indicators in accordance with the information they are intended to provide. Indicators are generally of two different types: (i) achievement indicators of the qualitative and quantitative measure of the training activities with regard to the different aspects of the subjects treated as well as the organization and pedagogical methods used; (ii) impact and effectiveness indicators: appreciation of the quality of the new techniques being used and of the restraints which, in certain cases, might have prevented them from being adopted, etc.
A number of different methods have been advocated with regard to the evaluation of training activities and in particular as concerns impact evaluation: (i) field experience; (ii) the matching samples method; (iii) studies prior to and following the event; (v) the survey. Generally speaking, the first two methods are rarely used, because they are very expensive and difficult to carry out; studies prior to and following the event are based upon observations that were made both before and after the training programme. Surveys, the method that is most frequently used, are generally easier to carry out and less costly, but they are also less precise. It should be pointed out that these methods could be used concomitantly.
The methodology and approach used for the conception and revision of the ENFI training programmes are indicated in the following diagram. It is based upon the evolution of both the context and environment of the forestry sector, as well as upon the forestry administration's desire to plan the future of the nation's forests with sustainable management as a primary concern, to be carried out in the second forestry project involving the restructuring of the forestry administration.
With the goal of planning the future of the nation's forests with sustainable management as a primary concern, the forestry administration, with the support of the World Bank, prepared a project for the development and conservation of forestry resources in 1990. This project, entitled the "Second Forestry Project", covered the period from 1992 to 1998 and was financed within the framework of the World Bank's sectorial loans, as well as by the African Development Bank (BAD). The project is made up of eight components:
GENERAL APPROACH ADOPTED FOR EVALUATING ENFI'S TRAINING AND PLANNING NEEDS
The last component was the object of an FAO/TCP/MOR/0052 project entitled "Restructuring of the Forestry Administration in Morocco" which ran from October 1990 until December 1992. This project resulted on the one hand in the creation of the new structures described in paragraphs (1.56 through 1.62) and in a project revising the Moroccan forestry code. It resulted on the other hand in a diagnostic analysis of forestry research and education and in proposals that we revalidated within the framework of the ENFI Workshop that was held from the3rd to the 5th of December 1992. This analysis was carried out on the basis of a diagnosis of interviews, beginning with a survey questionnaire that was distributed to all the personnel in all the central and exterior services, as well as on the attribution domains of the forestry administration. These are of two different orders: the specific forestry tasks relating to the protection and development of wooded areas, as well as to the multiple and vital tasks outside the forests.
The training profile is, in a general manner, the sum total of all the capabilities and qualities which a technician or a cadre must possess, and it also includes the tasks he or she is required to carry out in promoting and developing forestry activities within the framework of a defined policy and strategy. The profile is established based upon the orientations of forestry policy and an analysis of the technician's professional situation, i.e. the position he or she will hold and the skills that are linked to this position.
The economic and sociological complexity and diversity of Morocco, which is similar to that of the other countries whose citizens attend ENFI, in addition to the development implications and the great diversity of demands that are made upon forestry resources, calls for a particular approach to be used in management methods and instruments, as well as in the development of forestry resources and other natural resources. As a consequence, the scientific, technical, socio-economic and organizational functions which an engineer must cover in a variety of different professional situations, whether in the public or private sector, directly relate to:
In order to carry out these functions, the forestry engineer must be able to effectively meet the pressing and multiform demands formulated by the services related to forestry resources and natural resources, while simultaneously preserving and improving their production potential. The forestry engineer must also be able to apply an integrated approach to the multiple objectives that are inherent in the conception, planning and management of natural resources, and must also be able to apply the proper development techniques in the management of these resources.
These functions make it necessary for the forestry engineer to possess a certain number of aptitudes and capabilities, in particular:
The training plan and its corresponding courses were developed during a series of meetings and collaborative sessions that were held by the forestry administration's teaching corps and its managers, given that the forestry administration is the primary beneficiary of activities in the forestry sector.
The training areas accepted and validated by ENFI's Advanced Training Council in its April 1994 session were the following:
Although pedagogical methods, curriculum organization and knowledge evaluation in this field have not undergone any major changes, the school's new mission and responsibilities as well as the training profile and its domains have resulted in an improved restructuring of the school, its departments and its specialization options, thereby allowing for a broader outlook on the research environment.
During the course of the past decade, a number of very important actions took place favouring progress on a global scale with regard to the questions of sustainable forestry and forestry management. UNCED (RIO, 1992) was the departure and reference point for this process: (Agenda 21, Forestry Principles, the World Forestry Congress held in Paris in 1991 and in Antalya in 1996, International Conventions on Biological Diversity, Desertification and Climatic Change). The national forestry programmes (NFP) constitute the strategic framework and the planning instrument of these different processes.
The recognition of the importance of the wooded areas of the Mediterranean region in terms of development has, for some time now, resulted in cooperative efforts being made to create specific programmes in this area. The Mediterranean Forestry Action Programme (PAF-MED)viin particular, created by FAO in 1993 within the scope of the "Silva Mediterranea" activities, provides a conceptual framework of the basis upon which the countries of the Maghreb were able to develop and establish their national forestry plans (NFP). The concept and principles underlying these NFPs were expressed in the form of action proposals that were discussed during the course of the intergovernmental dialogue on forests, namely, the Intergovernmental Group on Forests and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests, (1996-2000, under the United Nations Sustainable Development Commission).
The strategic analysis recently carried out in Morocco with regard to the principal tendencies for this sector during the next twenty years served to highlight the major problems to be faced in relation to the possible future for forests and wooded areas. It was clearly felt that profound changes in forestry policy, both in its orientation and in its different implementation modalities, were indispensable. These problems are linked to the following points:
As a consequence of the above, the sustainable management of forestry resources is presently at the very centre of the concerns of both the Government authorities and Moroccan society. This awareness has resulted in the development and implementation of a series of sub-sector support studies with regard to strategic planning and action. All of these studies have been included within the framework of the National Forestry Programme (NFP)viiviii
The NFP, in this manner, constitutes the political and strategic framework for the sustainable management of the forestry sector, as well as the framework for mobilizing, programming and allocating the means needed for achieving the following objectives: (i) safeguarding and preserving the forestry heritage; (ii) conserving the soil and combating erosion; (iii) preserving and enhancing the biodiversity of natural milieus; (iv) developing and enhancing the value of production resources; (v) furthering the integrated development of forest and forest margin areas. The NFP strategy is based upon an approach that is simultaneously patrimonial, partner-related, participatory and territorial.
The strategy to be followed in order to achieve these objectives and succeed immobilizing the necessary means and action programmes consists of three principal approaches: (i) a patrimonial approach based upon making all of the actors involved in territorial development aware of their responsibilities: (ii) a territorial approach based upon integrating the actions to be carried out within the framework of a rural development dynamic (mountain, energy, pathway management and hydraulic development policy); (iii) a participatory and partner-related approach involving the support of user populations, local communities and the private sector in the process of sustainable developing resources.
The implementation of the NFPs is dependent upon reinforcement by public institutions; it has been the occasion for deep reflection and the restructuring of these institutions. In this regard, adapting the training programme and research efforts constitutes an effective command lever for bringing about the effective fulfillment of the action plans emanating from the NFP.
Forestry education in Morocco possesses a number of strong points that directly relate to the country's age-old scientific forestry culture, its national and international openness and it's far from negligible human and technical potential. Nevertheless, in spite of the country's diversity and the efforts being made to restructure the forestry sector and adapt it to development needs, the education system has been faced with problems that are of both a structural and organizational orderixin particular:
The scientific education and research system in general and that of agriculture in particular, in their role as a medium for imparting energy and growth in the area of scientific and technological production, have during the past decade been the subject of a thoroughgoing review and analysis with regard to the problems posed by the new context of sustainable development and its political, economic and social implications, as well as to the challenges to be met and the reforms that must be undertakenxxi
The higher education and agricultural research institutions have not been unaffected by these events. A number of reform and restructuring projects have been initiated and even promulgated (National Education and Training Chart Project of October 1999, Law 01.00 of 19 May 2000 with regard to the organization of higher education and the Draft Law relative to scientific and technological research).
The present tendencies regarding the structuring of higher education (3) can be summed up as follows:
The sustainable and multifunctional management of the Moroccan forests must be considered in terms of their geographic, economic and social environment and perceived as a component of sustainable development as well. This new management concept requires the support of structured education, training and research that is both effective and open, and is based upon the development of scientific and technical knowledge by a scientific community that is capable of meeting the challenges involved.
The changes made in forestry education, based upon recent orientations in this sector, the new needs of the NFP and the reforms in higher educationxiixiiihave been carried out at ENFI by means of the following principal actions: the revision of the training curriculum for technicians, the adaptation of the engineer's profile, the creation of a continuous training plan and the promotion of inter-institutional research.
The creation of a new elaborated training curriculum that follows a suitable approach to engineering training enables ENFI to train technicians who will play an essential role in the implementation of NFP programmes and activities.
It also became evident that the training in question had to be fully reviewed, with the following goals: (1) to evaluate the training programme presently taught at ITREF, and to situate it in relation to the needs of present and potential users; (2) to make the necessary adjustments for adapting it to teaching and (3) to create a new frame of reference based upon pedagogical engineering methods that involves providing a goal-oriented training course that was felt to be more effective and that would achieve better results than the classical academic training normally givenxiv The descriptive activity card presents, in summary form, the major categories of tasks that correspond to all of the different professional situations that a forestry technician might be faced with. This card was developed following discussions with the principal partners involved in technical training and was validated by seeking the opinion of a sampling of technicians working in different regions in the country, who are considered to be representative of the diverse activities carried out by technicians.
Studying and analyzing the descriptive activity card made it possible to distinguish seven final integration objectives (shown in the following box) which correspond to the evaluation made of a number of different capabilities for which the minimum level required corresponds to a threshold needed for delivery of a prepared diploma. It integrates the knowledge and know-how that are considered to be both fundamental and minimal.
FINAL INTEGRATION OBJECTIVES 1. Being able to guarantee the installation, technical supervision and exploitation of forestry planting and silvopastoral perimeters. 2. Being able to carry out development and soil restoration projects. 3. Being able to guarantee the organization, work control and management of human resources in conformity with the legislation in force, as well as the development and utilization of administrative documents. 4. Being able to make certain that the laws and regulations in force with regard to forestry, hunting and fishing are fully applied. 5. Being able to become integrated into one's work milieu and socio-professional environment. 6. Being able to utilize and/or maintain the material and equipment used in the forestry domain, and to guarantee the control and follow-up of development work. 7.Being able to mobilize scientific knowledge relating to forestry techniques in order to understand and effectively deal with professional situations. |
The forestry technician's training is organized in six units that are structured in 33 modules, to which a physical and sports education module as well as a module involving seminars and projects have been added.
The revision and adaptation of forestry education has recently been the subject of reflection and analysis. This has been based upon forestry strategy and the primary objectives set for the NFP in 2020, with the objective of defining the forestry engineer profile with regard to employment areas and the analysis and synthesis capabilities, knowledge and know-how required in order to achieve the appropriate training structure and the curriculum to fill it.
The orientation and programmes involving action or change emanating from the NFP all work in favour of the training of a multipurpose forestry cadre capable of taking charge not only of the management of forestry resources or even of natural spaces, but also of all the other problems related to the development of the total rural area. This training must be the logical result of the preponderant importance that has been attached to a fully integrated rural development.
This type of training profile for upper-level forestry cadres requires a strong and multipurpose agronomic training background that should include a theoretical and practical introduction to the most modern techniques (in computer sciences and statistics, etc.) before the forestry and environmental training itself is integrated into the curriculum.
As a result of the advances in knowledge and the diversity, complexity and inter-relation of the tasks and activities involved in the forestry sustainable management process, a permanent training programme (including re-cycling, advanced training courses, seminars, etc.) must constitute the fundamental principle of all dynamics related to the technical and professional capabilities that should accompany the NFP.
The method to be used should include the following successive steps: (1) an inventory of the functional positions; (2) a description of the professional activities related to each position; (3) a statement of the skills lacking in each position; (4) a determination of the training needs.
The following diagram indicates the elaboration method to be applied to the continuous training plan.
The continuous training plan thus represents a collective training offer over a five-year period, during the course of which each person concerned can find the answer to his individual needs, in accordance to the modalities described. The emerging training needs are essentially of two types: new basic training, advanced training and training accompanied by change.
All in all, eighty training modules have been identified, representing the equivalent of 377 sessions and 25,500 training days during the course of the next five years.
The ultimate goal of forestry education is to prepare the generations to come to enable them to meet the challenges related to forestry sustainable management. The new problems that have appeared within the NFP framework call for new solutions. It is for this reason that it is essential that forestry training be very closely linked to research, because it is research that prepares us for the future. Research constitutes a vital and indispensable activity in the higher-education forestry training system and it is by means of research that education can perfect scientific knowledge and help to improve the level of this training.
The ENFI departments must establish training programmes in function of the priority needs that are expressed by the Forestry Department within the framework of the Educational Council, or the Council that directs and plans research. This research must be oriented towards the solution of priority problems that have been defined in forestry strategy and the national programme of forestry research. It must also be carried out in close collaboration with the other national institutions in particular and it must also establish short-term research and development programmes in collaboration with users.
Alongside the liaisons that exist with the university and research institutes, ENFI must also create and maintain liaisons with the institutions in the field, not only during the course of student tours, but also by means of events and seminars as well as study or information days. The tentatives made by practitioners and users in the field in an attempt to find solutions to their problems and their needs constitute a further source of progress, alongside research.
The liaisons that exist between the ENFI and research institutes must not be limited to the professor and researcher level, but must also include the students. It is only by including students in these liaisons that they will later be able to continue working with research institutes, throughout the course of their careers.
The promotion of research activities remains dependent upon continuous and flexible financing mechanisms. It is vital to mobilize both national and international financing for research, which must also have the support of those persons responsible for opening up new directions to this end.
It is also necessary, nevertheless, for the teaching corps to be mobilized in order to bring about these changes and continually adapt the education and training programmes. There is, in addition, the need to benefit from the methods used in training and research in order for them to continue to improve and guarantee the use of the classical technologies. At the national and international level in particular, it is vital that there be participation in seminars and symposiums, and that study tours be organized on a variety of themes both in Morocco and abroad, along with the promotion of teacher exchanges between institutions, etc.
The forestry problems that exist in the region have, in Morocco, conditioned the strategies and political choices with regard to forestry management, conservation and the natural environment, as well as the orientations in the field of education, training and forestry research.
The analysis of the present situation in the higher education system has made it possible to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this system. In this regard, the National Forestry Engineering School at Sale, in Morocco, has presented a cooperation model that applies to the Maghreb countries in the area of higher cadre forestry training.
The Rio Summit and the processes that followed it have brought to the fore anew vision of forestry in terms of its management and conservation, as well as the ecological exploitation that is viable for all types of forests. Morocco, in this regard, has elaborated and developed strategic support instruments with regard to the planning, in particular, of the national forestry programme (NFP). The adaptation and reinforcement of education, training and research constitute methods that can be used to effectively carry out the action plans emanating from the NFP.
The general tendencies in education and research are evolving in the direction of the clarification of missions, institutional reinforcement, the adaptation of training profiles and contents, the improvement of management techniques and priorities, research programming and financing.
The methodology and processes that are utilized for the conception and revision of training curricula at both the medium and higher education levels are based upon the evolution of the forestry sector environment context and the desire of the forestry administration to plan for the future of forests by guaranteeing their sustainable development and by carrying out the national forestry programme as we approach the horizon of the year 2020.
The training system at both the medium and higher education levels is characterized by its great ability to adapt to the changes in forestry policy. In this manner, the concept of forestry education, based upon training objectives that are clearly defined and periodically reviewed in collaboration with trainers and users can guarantee the continuation of the close relationship between the evolution of the needs and exigencies of development, as well as the orientation of the profiles and contents of forestry training.
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