Desertification and Its Control in Morocco - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 93

important cause of soil degradation in the eastern regions of Morocco, the Souss,
the Pre-Sahara and the Sahara and approximately 8.3 Mha of rangelands are heavily
degraded (Ouassou et al. 2006 ). The land in these regions is collectively used by
local tribes and communities. Land use conflicts over access to grazing areas and
water are major contributors to continual and often intensive land degradation. In
the eastern region, feed subsidies for instance discourage the reduction of livestock
pressure on collective rangeland. Higher prices encourage farmers to grow cereals,
especially bread wheat, in steeply sloped plots. These government support policies
combined to other environmental problems contributed also to soil erosion.

4.2.1 Encroachment of Traditional Rangeland for Crop Production

The disempowerment of traditional institutions has led to the disruption of man-
agement of rangelands. Transhumance has practically disappeared. Settling within
rangelands has become the rule, and cultivation and privatization of the rangeland
is expanding. And what remains of the original rangeland is exposed to fierce
overexploitation. Rangeland rehabilitation, therefore, is a high priority for the
Moroccan government, which has initiated activities aimed at halting degradation,
increasing farmers' income, and stemming the rural exodus. Whilst livestock
remains the main source of income, but that the pastoral system has evolved during
the last decades a number of other things have occurred:

- The ancestral grazing practices, based on tribal organization and using large areas

for grazing, are disappearing and rangeland is degrading at a quicker pace.

- The system is evolving towards an agro-pastoral one, characterized by the

intensification of livestock production.

- Pastoral cooperatives are replacing the traditional mode of organization based on

tribes.

- There is less transhumance. The best sites are cleared for cultivation.

- Pastoralists with small flocks are more sedentary and, therefore, contribute to

rangeland degradation.

- More farmers are raising the Ouled Djellal breed of sheep.

- The contribution of concentrate to livestock feeding is increasing.

- The rural exodus is increasing due to a decline in livestock productivity and the

high cost of feed concentrates.

The Moroccan forests are a precious and priceless heritage. They partly cover
the Atlantic and Mediterranean slopes of the Moroccan mountain ranges; in the
High Atlas, forestlands stretch from the dir to the center of the range. This heritage,
however, is in great danger. For nearly a century, the forests have been subjected to
increasing pressure, first from the forestry services of the French Protectorate, and
during the last few decades as a result of the demographic explosion. The causes
of this degradation are connected to management errors, uncontrolled exploitation,
and the vagaries of the climate.