Environmental activists in the Zagora province have demanded that the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, intervene to end the "worsening" water situation that the province is suffering from due to the continued hosting of "alien" water-consuming crops, mainly watermelons, after they received "with regret" the provincial governor's issuance, once again, of a decision determining the areas allowed for the cultivation of this fruit, "despite the fact that the two similar decisions during the past two seasons only led to an increase in production due to circumvention of them."
The Friends of the Environment Association in the Zagora province submitted a letter to Laftit at the Ministry of the Interior's registry office, registered under number 12550, regarding the cultivation of watermelons in the province's territorial area, in which it confirmed that the latter "is suffering from a difficult and absolute water crisis; as it has moved from a stage of water scarcity to a stage of water deficit due to climate change and the severe drought that resulted from it."
The same correspondence, which Hespress has seen, explained that this transition also came due to "the excessive depletion of water wealth as a result of introducing alien water-consuming crops: watermelons," adding that this "had a dangerous and profound impact on people and the area, and thus the oases deteriorated, their area retreated, and misery spread and unhappiness settled everywhere," warning that this matter "pushed a large part of the population to migrate in search of a better life."
The association recalled that "this miserable situation" prompted it to write to the governor of the Zagora province on the subject on 22 August 2024, requesting him to "intervene according to his competencies to protect the public water domain, by issuing a gubernatorial decision prohibiting the cultivation of both red and yellow watermelons in the territorial area of the province," explaining that it was based on the fact that this cultivation is "alien and harmful to the strategic palm cultivation, which constitutes the main resource and the primary agricultural activity for the local population."
The Friends of the Environment Association in the Zagora province informed Abdelouafi Laftit that it received "with great regret the governor's limitation to issuing a gubernatorial decision on 11 October 2024, which repeals two previous decisions issued during the two previous agricultural seasons that did not lead to the desired result in regulating this cultivation."
It continued, explaining: "On the contrary, the cultivated areas increased significantly, and production rose due to the circumvention of these two decisions," explaining that this matter "resulted in the exacerbation and worsening of the water situation," describing the decisions of the governors of the neighbouring provinces of Tinghir and Tata, which ordered a total ban on watermelon cultivation, issued at the same time, as "wise."
In view of this, "and in the face of this worrying situation in the Zagora province, and in implementation of the high royal instructions contained in the 2024 Throne Speech, which insist on protecting the public water domain," the association defending environmental safety in the Zagora province requested the Minister of the Interior, Abdelouafi Laftit, to "intervene to put an end to this miserable situation (..) to protect the public water domain, and to lift the severe damage that has affected both people and the area alike."
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