ZAATOT, for Man and Monkey in the High-Atlas
Franco-Moroccan ecovolunteers
In July 2022, around thirty young Moroccan and French volunteers aged 15 to 23 met in the Ourika Valley to work on a common project for the environment. This 2-week eco-volunteering stay was coordinated by ZAATOT, the Bureau des guides de Setti-Fatma and the CPIE de la Bresse du Jura.
Moroccans live in the Valley or Marrakech for their studies, the French are mainly from the Jura, others from Côte d'Or or Ain. This volunteering action was supported by funding from the French state (FONJEP Jeunesse Solidarité Internationale), the Bourgogne Franche-Comté Region, the Foundation for Nature and Man and the Edgar Faure agricultural school in Montmorot.
Very beautiful moments of exchange allowed the young people to fraternize and mutually discover the culture and the aspirations of the youth of the two countries.
In the field, they carried out two voluntary missions based on needs identified with ZAATOT and local partners:
- An inventory of degraded areas of holm oak and juniper forests currently protected by the Department of Water and Forests to allow its regeneration for 4 years: floristic inventories, estimate of the recovery of vegetation and the natural recovery of seedlings of spontaneous or planted trees.
- Establishment of a temporary space for environmental education under tents, called Nature and Mountain Center, to accommodate both local associations, guides and tourists visiting the waterfalls.
They also carried out a 3-day hike supervised by the Guides Office allowing them to discover the landscapes and the populations living in the heart of the High Atlas by going up the valley.
The local associations met in August 2021 and then diagnosed by ZAATOT and the CPIE were invited by the young people to integrate experimental awareness-raising activities.
The ecovolunteers have carried out a lot of work to develop a platform capable of supporting a large caidal tent in a private fruit plot. The activities designed for the occasion were tested by the young people in the presence of the associations. The day ended with a common waste collection action on the hiking trails along the waterfalls.
The launch of the center made it possible to initiate a series of extended activities throughout the summer thanks to the relay carried out after the stay by Mohamed Ait Addi, the Moroccan civic service volunteer from the valley, and the young Moroccan volunteers who remained on place.
The experimentation of young people for 2 weeks added to the friendship that was born between the 2 groups promise to have a bright future whether in terms of the sustainability of an environmental education center on site or a stay in reciprocity with the arrival of Moroccans in France to carry out environmental actions in Bourgogne Franche-Comté next year.
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