The city of Tata hosted the 8th edition of its agricultural fair on 10 April. This was the occasion chosen by the founding members of the Moroccan Association for the Development of the Jbel Bani Geopark (AMDGJB) to hold their constituent general assembly, thus realising a project they had been developing since 2012.

This association is the result of the establishment of formalised partnerships at the level of the presidencies of Mohammed V University in Rabat (represented by its applied geology laboratory directed by Professor El Wartiti Mohammed) and Ibn Zohr University in Agadir, with the mandated project coordinator, Patrick Simon, manager of Sud Project Manager/PSPM Sarl. It follows the international WIGET4 workshop held on 13, 14, and 15 April 2014 in Tata.

The general assembly saw the election of Mr Simon by the founding members to the presidency of the AMDGJB. Vice-presidents were then appointed to manage national and international relations on the one hand, and commission presidents were appointed to take into account the developments resulting from the implementation of advanced regionalisation, inter-regional relations, with the province and the provincial council of Tata, the wilaya and the council of the Guelmim-Es Smara region regarding the Souss Atlantic tourist territory, and the wilaya and the Council of the Souss-Massa region concerning the new administrative division, on the other hand.

Furthermore, the balance between tourism professionals, laboratories, and multidisciplinary scientific research units was respected, along with services, communication, and targeted training to support the implementation of the project, with the launch of an international master's degree and a professional bachelor's degree, perfectly adapted to the needs of this new tourist niche of Geo-eco-tourism.

The general assembly addressed the upstream needs to establish the Jbel Bani Geopark with the concern of drafting the specifications and an ethics charter, already allowing for the consideration of duplication in other regions and, beyond that, for other countries (which is already under study).

Downstream, and to allow for the popularisation of tourist sites approved and targeted for "nature tourism", "cultural tourism", and "rural tourism" throughout some forty circuits developed from the airports of Guelmim, Agadir, Ouarzazate, and Marrakech, the participants planned to involve associations and women's agricultural, artisanal, and development cooperatives in this process in order to consider integrated, inclusive, and sustainable development leading to real income-generating activities.

The conclusion, under the aegis of the project coordinator, of an international partnership between 4 German Rotary Clubs and 1 Moroccan Rotary Club has made it possible to envisage the implementation of a pilot project as a springboard for training and provincial and regional duplication for all projects that will have to be located on the selected circuits as witnesses to the tourist, scientific, cultural, and heritage riches, both tangible and intangible, of this Jbel Bani territory.

In parallel with this assembly, the Tata Geopark was able to participate in the 8th edition of the Tata Agricultural Fair, where a stand was open for three days with activities led by professors from Rabat and Agadir, 4 doctoral students, and an agent from the CRT Guelmim-Es Smara, to popularise this project among the youth, the populations, and the cooperatives and associations present. It was also an opportunity to hand over the project files to Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture and Maritime Fisheries, and to Fatima Marouan, Minister of Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy.

Tourist guides and flyers from the Regional Tourism Council of Guelmim-Es Smara were distributed, as well as copies of postcards created by Professor Driss Fadili from the University of Rabat.

A.E.K