While the oasis space is the subject of several interventions to preserve the environment, other acts are coming to reset the clocks, if not worse. In Mhamid El Ghizlane, and under the pretext of efforts aimed at opening up the ksours of this remote area, the competent authorities are working, without scruple, to fell date palms. An aberration that local associations are denouncing. "Developing a road in the palm grove is a good thing, but it can also be done without felling this number of date palms which are the pride, but also the life of the people of the last palm grove of the Draâ," indicates a young associative actor of the region. Already, he adds, starting a project on private land requires at least informing these concerned people, if not following the legal channels in the matter, including expropriation procedures. Why does such a project not have a sign or a board indicating to the public the project leader and the budget, as well as its objective? An associative counter-attack was quickly organised. The Zayla Association for the Preservation of the Environment, based in the region, issued a categorical "no" to this project and sent a letter to this effect to the central authorities in charge of the environment. "How can one conceive of the implementation of such a project, without there being a dialogue and information for the populations, in order to know their opinions and proposals, as long as the project concerns them directly?" maintains a letter sent by the Zayla Association to the Secretariat of State in charge of the Environment. A dozen people also filed a petition, by way of protest, with the King's Prosecutor at the Court of Appeal in Ouarzazate. Environmental actors in the region are following this issue closely, and in this context, the "Sahara Roots" Foundation of Holland expresses all "its regret for what is happening, while we have not stopped planting trees for a dozen years already to counteract the effects of desertification." A case to follow