Countries

Forests and the forestry sector

Resources
The Kingdom of Morocco has a wide variety of climatic conditions as a result of its geographical situation and its very varied landforms: 70 percent of the country is mountainous, while 30 percent is composed of plains. Forests cover 5 814 000 ha, made up of 63 percent deciduous species (holm oak [Quercus ilex], cork oak [Quercus suber], argan [Argania spinosa] and Saharan acacias [Acacia spp.]) and 20 percent conifers (cedar [Cedrus spp.], thuya [Tetraclinis articulata], juniper [Juniperus spp.], pine [Pinus spp.], Atlas cypress [Cupressus atlantica] and fir [Abies spp.]), while the remaining 17 percent are low formations (scrub and secondary species), often resulting from forest degradation.

Planted forests cover nearly 500 000 ha and are expanding at an average annual rate of 8 percent, well below the optimal rate (15 to 20 percent) needed to maintain the ecological and environmental balance.

Products and trade
Forests play an important social and economic role in Morocco, with an estimated contribution of 5 percent to the gross national agricultural product and 1 percent to the total gross national product. Moreover, the rural population¿s way of life depends to a large extent on material benefits drawn from forests: 17 percent of national fodder production and nearly 6 million tonnes of fuelwood (equivalent to about 4 million tonnes of petroleum) and timber.

The most important contribution of Moroccan forests to the national economy is certainly protection of the environment, especially the protection of soil from erosion, the preservation of water resources in catchment areas, the reduction of siltation in dams and the protection of infrastructures downstream.

Problems
Moroccan forests have been suffering a disturbing degree of degradation for several years, with annual losses of about 30 000 ha. The main features of environmental degradation are deforestation, soil erosion and the effect of industrial waste, which damages the quality of water resources. A lack of water will force Morocco to reconsider the planning of its traditional extensive and irrigated agriculture. Water resources have been suffering increasing pressure for several years and a serious water shortfall is forecast, with projections for the resource and for demand on it indicating a major deficit by the year 2040. Human pressure continues to grow and Moroccan forests seem to be strongly affected by the complex interactions between natural and human factors.

In general, forest stands are degraded and often sparse and fragmented. The undergrowth is overgrazed and soils have become more vulnerable to water erosion, a phenomenon particularly marked in forests on slopes and in semi-arid bioclimates.

Last updated: November 2003