The High Commission for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification (HCEFLCD) celebrated World Day to Combat Desertification for two days in the provinces of Laâyoune and Smara.

These activities, which took place last Tuesday and Wednesday around the theme "Let us all act to limit land degradation by taking into account zonal specificities", aimed, according to the HCEFCLD, to inform the public and local stakeholders about the efforts made in the fight against desertification in the region and to raise awareness among members of society about the ongoing process of updating the National Action Programme to Combat Desertification (PANLCD), several years after its implementation. This programme focuses on the annual treatment of more than 140 ha, to curb the problem of sand encroachment and to protect the infrastructure of urban areas, through the revegetation of dunes with species adapted to the desert climate. The first day focused on updating the PANLCD as well as on communication regarding the forestry strategy and soil conservation carried out in the southern provinces. The second was marked by a field trip to inspect the sites where pilot projects in the fight against desertification were carried out in the province of Smara (Oued Selwane green belt covering an area of 102 ha, created with funding from the HCEFLCD at a total cost of more than 1.4 million DH).

According to a statement from the HCEFLCD, Morocco is among the first signatories of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), ratified in 1996. In 2001, the country adopted a programme based on four pillars: the fight against poverty, integrated sustainable development, the mitigation of the effects of drought, and the conservation management of natural resources. It added that the High Commission had set up a system for circulating information on desertification in collaboration with national and international partners. The implementation of the PANLCD has recorded significant achievements, notably numerous accomplishments in the various fields of combating land degradation.

These activities took place in the presence of Abdeladim El Hafi, High Commissioner for Water and Forests and the Fight against Desertification, and representatives of all sectors concerned with this theme, development agencies, local authorities, scientific research institutions, and associations working in this field.