MAR

The geographical position of Morocco makes it a strategically interesting country connecting Europe and North Africa. The Moroccan landscape is diverse between mountains, plains and desert. Its coastline is divided between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Morocco is the second richest country in biodiversity in the Mediterranean area after Turkey, with an overall endemism rate of 20%.

Moroccan biodiversity includes more than 24,600 faunal species and 7,000 floral species. Forest and marine ecosystems are especially rich. Globally, Morocco ranks among the countries with the highest levels of fish diversity. Desert ecosystems, although characterised by limited precipitation, present 750 different types of vegetal species, of which 60 are endemic; 650 mostly endemic invertebrates; over 250 birds and at least 40 of the most threatened mammals in Morocco.

The general trend for natural resources in Morocco is toward biodiversity degradation and loss. At present, over 600 endangered species have been identified throughout the country, and the degradation rate is irreversible for some of them, especially for those species located around cities. A decline in biodiversity is observable in all ecosystems.

In efforts to combat this, Morocco has 10 protected areas (Pas) that stretch from the north to south of the country on an overall area of about 772,000 ha. This network of protected areas has also served as a support for a program to rehabilitate species, notably the deer, berbie, addax, oryx, gazelle dama mhorr and the red-necked ostrich. The PAs in Morocco come under IUCN management categories, II, IV and VI, with both national ministry and collaborative governance.