Organised at the initiative of the "Ibn Al-Awwam" association for the safeguarding of heritage, water, gardens, and landscapes, in partnership with the Moroccan committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the UCAM, this meeting was interesting due to its theme, the number and profile of the participants, as well as the quality of the debates.

This conclave focused on the presentation of the situation of the heritage of historical gardens in Morocco and more particularly in Marrakech, considered as the conservatory, par excellence, of these sites with high ecological and cultural value. The meeting was also the occasion for the officials of the "Ibn Al-Awwam" association to set out the main lines of their preliminary study for the safeguarding and promotion of the Agdal Gardens, as well as to return to the balance sheet of twenty years of university research on the heritage of historical gardens.

The sought-after goal is to lead all decision-makers, including representatives of the Department of Culture, local authorities, tourism promoters, politicians, and private patrons to become aware of the exceptional value of this heritage and to commit to the ambitious programme of its safeguarding and promotion. The speakers did not fail to underline the importance of the impressive green heritage accumulated, over the years, by Marrakech, a city that can today claim to be an open-air museum, containing all the styles of gardens known in the Kingdom since the twelfth century and embodying the model of a garden city. They, however, deplored the fact that this heritage remains little known, often degraded or abandoned, and that historical gardens have been gradually devoured by real estate speculation and demographic explosion, to finally be replaced by "turnkey" gardens, standard gardens, and "instant" gardens. After regretting the absence of an inventory of historical gardens, both in Marrakech and in other cities classified as World Heritage, the speakers observed that ignorance of the specificity of these gardens has sometimes led to inappropriate interventions, as is the case for Jnan El-Harti. "The local authorities have embarked over the last two years on the implementation of development programmes for parks and gardens, without taking into account their historical character and their specificity as living monuments," they stressed. While applauding the successful safeguarding and rehabilitation of the very old Arsat Moulay Abdeslem garden, now become the Cyber-Parc Arsat Moulay Abdeslem after its restoration by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the speakers stressed the imperative need to draw up an inventory of the historical gardens of Morocco within the current year. The emphasis was also placed on the importance of instituting an annual meeting for the historical gardens of Marrakech and the establishment of a service in charge of gardens and landscapes within the Ministry of Culture. The media coverage of the results of the study carried out by the "Ibn Al-Awwam" association and the multiplication of meetings to make them known to decision-makers and the general public were also recommended. It should be noted that the "Marrakech, city of permanent renewal" project, launched last January by H.M. King Mohammed VI and to which investments of 6.3 billion dirhams have been allocated, relates, among other things, to the rehabilitation of the city's historical gardens, the creation of an urban forest, and the equipment of an entertainment complex (Nzaha).

"Preservation" mission: In a statement to the newspaper "Le Matin", the teacher-researcher and president of the "Ibn Al-Awwam" association, Mohamed El-Faiz, affirmed that the preservation of the ecological heritage of the ochre city goes through three phases: knowing, legislating, and promoting.

"Knowledge is necessary to understand the value of the heritage, highlight its original features, and avoid its denaturation in case of development," he indicated, estimating that for the specific case of historical gardens, non-intervention or waiting are sometimes a lesser evil compared to hasty actions that lead to removing their character of authenticity specified by the Florence Charter of 1982. And to specify: "For the case of Marrakech, we have the most advanced university expertise in this field. (...) After knowledge, it is necessary to legislate for real safeguarding and intervene last to promote within the framework of cultural tourism," concludes the economist and historian of agronomy and Arab gardens.

An exhibition under the sign "The Agdal: a masterpiece of the art of gardens" was set up on the sidelines of this day, which was very enriching due to the interventions and proposals going in the direction of the promotion of an exceptional heritage for the realisation of sustainable development objectives.