Desertification and Its Control in Morocco - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 92

Tabl e 5. 1 Land use

Arable and permanent crops Area (million ha [Mha])

in Morocco

Forests 9.2

Alfa steppe 5.8

Range a 3.2

Total 52.885
71.085
a Including low productivity Saharan steppes, rocky sites
and areas occupied by infrastructures as they have not
been estimated separately

zones ( 500 mm rain per year). Arable land and permanent crops represent 12 %

(9.2 Mha) of the land area, of which 1.2 Mha are irrigated, 12.5 % (5.8 Mha) is
forest, and 52.9 Mha are rangelands and unproductive lands (Table 5.1 ).

>

4 Causes of Desertification in Morocco

4.1 Climatic Factors

Like the other countries south of the Mediterranean, Morocco has suffered from
a negative trend in rainfall over the last few decades. In 50 years, precipitation
has dropped from an annual average of 600 to 300 mm, with more and more
successive dry years (1979-1984, 1990-1994, 1998-2001). During these periods,
cropping in the rain-fed fields was of low productivity or crops failed and temporary
food shortages occurred in the most disadvantaged parts of the country. Arable
lands underwent accelerated degradation and destruction as the desertification
process in the marginal lands gained momentum. In an effort to save their cattle,
livestock producers invaded the forests and cut off the leafy branches to feed their
animals. Is this apparent increase in droughts due to global warming or because the
anticyclone from the Azores lasts longer and longer in Morocco during the winter, as
witnessed in 1999 and 2000? If the tendency for more years to be hot and dry were
to continue, it would have a substantial impact on the mountainous environment
in Morocco; in particular the snows would melt sooner or winter snows would be
replaced by rain. Both scenarios would entail a fundamental change in the regime
of the waterways and have serious implications for the irrigation areas.

4.2 Human Factors

Although land degradation in these environments is partly caused by natural factors,
the accelerated erosion rates are mostly human induced. Overgrazing is the most