As part of the MPC biannual education programme, several schools in the Ifrane region are participating today in a competition featuring nature-themed murals and a treasure hunt.

Organised by the Ifrane National Park authorities, the Association of Life and Earth Sciences Teachers in Morocco (AESVT) and the Moroccan Primate Conservation Foundation (MPC), this competition aims to "keep schools motivated and supportive of nature during the years when the programme does not take place", the event's promoters maintain.

Regarding the principle, they explain that "schools must design a mural that demonstrates the relationship between humans, nature and conservation, focusing on Barbary macaques, water consumption, deforestation and waste".

The organisers specify that "three winning designs were finally chosen. And the schools were provided with materials to paint the designed mural, enlarged on a wall inside the school or the local community". In any case, all schools will receive recognition for their participation, it is assured.

Furthermore, a statement from the organisers indicates that ten representatives from each school will then be invited to participate in a waste collection operation and a treasure hunt within the grounds of Ifrane National Park. In this regard, the organisers note that this activity is very timely given that World Environment Day will be celebrated on 5 June. But beyond that, "this is a wonderful exercise to help school children realise the fate of the Barbary macaque, the only primate in North Africa, and our dependence on a healthy ecosystem", they explain. In addition, they believe that "having the murals in full view of local communities will also help raise public awareness of the fact that fewer than 4,000 of these beautiful creatures remain in the wild".

Let us add that it is within this framework that Driss Hachimi of the Association of Life and Earth Sciences Teachers in Morocco recently organised a workshop to train educators on how the competition will work.