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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=morocco&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/morocco/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 08 Nov 2026 15:40:02 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Morocco environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/morocco/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Mediterranean fisheries commission adopts species management plans but punts on deep-sea protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 14:43:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06074209/Fishmonger-Malaga-53236699475_c008cee0f3_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335146</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Regulations, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The international organization responsible for regulating fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black seas concluded its annual meeting with the adoption of new management plans for some iconic species. However, it declined to pass expected fishing restrictions to protect certain ecologically important habitats. Half of all assessed species in the region are overexploited. The 49th session [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The international organization responsible for regulating fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black seas concluded its annual meeting with the adoption of new management plans for some iconic species. However, it declined to pass expected fishing restrictions to protect certain ecologically important habitats. Half of all assessed species in the region are overexploited. The 49th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), a body of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), took place in Rome Oct. 26-30, bringing together 23 member countries and the European Union. The meeting achieved some milestones, including establishing long-term harvest strategies for European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and deep-water rose shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) in the Strait of Sicily, and for giant red shrimp (Aristaeomorpha foliacea) in the Strait of Sicily, the Ionian Sea between Greece and southern Italy, and the Levantine Sea in the easternmost Mediterranean. However, the commission postponed making a decision on the establishment of two Fisheries Restricted Areas: One covering a cold-water coral reef between Spain and Morocco, and another expanding protection for deep-sea areas. Both proposals had broad agreement just a few months earlier, observers said. “It is disappointing that, despite multiple proposals to restrict fishing to protect sensitive habitats, countries could not reach agreement and instead delayed adoption,” Esther Wozniak, senior policy officer for sustainable fisheries at the U.S.-based NGO The Pew Charitable Trusts, who took part in the meeting as an observer, said in a press release. “There was, however, important progress on improving fisheries management that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335146</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title> Seeking swordfish, catching dolphins and whales: EU pushes to rein in driftnets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 20:24:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08160916/a.-BANNER-GP0156K-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322913</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bycatch, Cetaceans, Dolphins, Elasmobranchs, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Illegal Fishing, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Sharks, Tuna, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Driftnets, vertically hanging nets that drift with ocean currents and can stretch for kilometers, are used to catch large pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna. However, they have long drawn criticism from conservationists as they also capture and kill sharks, turtles, dolphins and other marine wildlife. For decades, debate has raged about use of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Driftnets, vertically hanging nets that drift with ocean currents and can stretch for kilometers, are used to catch large pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna. However, they have long drawn criticism from conservationists as they also capture and kill sharks, turtles, dolphins and other marine wildlife. For decades, debate has raged about use of the large nets. It’s a particularly contentious issue in the Mediterranean Sea, an important migration corridor that faces considerable pressure from overfishing, pollution and climate change. Now, international efforts to tighten legislation on driftnets in the Mediterranean have gained new momentum as member states of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) consider a proposal aimed at closing loopholes in existing rules. ICCAT is the world’s largest regional fisheries management organization, managing the stocks of highly migratory species, including tuna, swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and some shark species across the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. At ICCAT’s technical meetings held in Brussels in June, the European Union presented a proposal (see IMM_09_ENG.docx in link) that seeks to strengthen current driftnet rules. Fishers haul an illegal driftnet in international waters west of Marettimo Island, near Sicily. Image © Gavin Parsons/Greenpeace. The EU proposal would establish clearer definitions for driftnets, prohibit their possession on vessels that target certain species, and extend restrictions beyond the Mediterranean to parts of the Atlantic Ocean. “The EU has the clear ambition to push for the adoption of this measure at this year’s annual meeting of ICCAT (in November),” an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322913</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Morocco rolls out a phosphorous-fueled plan to heal soils across Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/morocco-rolls-out-a-phosphorous-fueled-plan-to-heal-soils-across-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/morocco-rolls-out-a-phosphorous-fueled-plan-to-heal-soils-across-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2023 15:26:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marlowe Starling]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/28113059/A-group-of-UM6P-scientists--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271529</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Development, Crops, Farming, Fertilizers, Food, Food Industry, food security, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BEN GUERIR, Morocco — Moussa Bouray sifts through hundreds of soil samples on the shelves of his lab that that will undergo analysis for nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and especially phosphorus. Outside the lab at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, mounds of phosphate sediment from a nearby mine rise so high they resemble mountains in the distance. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BEN GUERIR, Morocco — Moussa Bouray sifts through hundreds of soil samples on the shelves of his lab that that will undergo analysis for nutrients: nitrogen, potassium, and especially phosphorus. Outside the lab at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, mounds of phosphate sediment from a nearby mine rise so high they resemble mountains in the distance. These piles are loaded with phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertilizers. But some of Bouray’s soil samples, which come from farms across Morocco, will still be phosphorous-deficient. Bouray’s work is part of a larger effort to improve soil fertility, not only in Morocco but across Africa. Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, known locally as UM6P, has plans for more agriculture labs, dubbed experimental farms, beyond Morocco; Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Ghana, Ethiopia and seven other countries are on the list. Together, the labs will form a network called the Agricultural Innovation and Technology Transfer Center. It’s an initiative funded by UM6P and Morocco’s multibillion-dollar phosphate company, OCP Group, which founded the university in 2013. Bouray and the other scientists at this lab are like doctors for farmers’ soils. They analyze the samples to create diagnoses — such as a phosphorus deficiency or acidity — to recommend fertilizer applications or specific farming practices. In the past, Moroccans followed standard fertilizer recommendations to add nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to their soil regardless of location, climate, crop or other factors, says Rachid Serraj, director of strategy and Africa initiative at UM6P. “Now, we realize that it doesn&#8217;t really work. It’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/morocco-rolls-out-a-phosphorous-fueled-plan-to-heal-soils-across-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271529</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hundreds of iconic Barbary macaques feared dead in Morocco forest fire</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/hundreds-of-iconic-barbary-macaques-feared-dead-in-morocco-forest-fire/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/hundreds-of-iconic-barbary-macaques-feared-dead-in-morocco-forest-fire/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Aug 2022 12:14:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Weekes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/05114320/1-MaleMacaqueWithBaby_LucyRadford-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258901</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Disasters, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forest Destruction, Forests, Habitat Loss, Impact Of Climate Change, Mammals, Monkeys, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Morocco fire forces evacuation of 15 villages and sparks fears that hundreds of endangered Barbary macaques may have been killed.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A wildfire that tore through the Rif mountains in northern Morocco for several days from July 25 has destroyed more than a dozen villages and is likely to have ravaged the endangered Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) monkey population living there. Some 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres) has burned, about half of the Bouhachem Forest Reserve. Local media reported that 935 families from 15 villages in the region of the fires were evacuated. Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation (BMAC), a U.K.-based NGO that has a base in the Bouhachem reserve in the Rif mountains, says local communities have lost their houses, wheat and other crops and much of their livestock. “The villagers rely on the Bouhachem forest for non-timber forest products, particularly grazing for their cows and goats,” said Siân Waters, an adviser to BMAC. “It is probable that many cows will have been killed by the fire and this is a substantial loss in terms of meat and milk. The villagers also relied on the forest for the collection of medicinal plants and mushrooms which they sell.” Forest fire above a village near Bouhachem: villagers have lost homes, crops, and livestock in the most intense fire for 40 years. Organizations including Barbary Macaque Awareness &amp; Conservation will try to aid their recovery. Image courtesy of Ahmed Al Harrad/BMCRif. Sidi Imad Cherkaoui, associate professor at the Superior School of Technology–Kénitra in Morocco’s University of Ibn Tofail, said the wildfire was “one of the most devastating and deadly in the last 40 years.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/08/hundreds-of-iconic-barbary-macaques-feared-dead-in-morocco-forest-fire/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258901</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New coating could help seeds survive in drought conditions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/new-coating-could-help-seeds-survive-in-drought-conditions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/new-coating-could-help-seeds-survive-in-drought-conditions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2021 16:23:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/02160946/drought-3-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246697</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and Morocco]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Green, and Happy-upbeat Environmental]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What do you get when you combine silk cocoons, orange peel waste, beneficial bacteria, and a dash of innovation? Quite possibly a solution to growing crops in dry places, one group of researchers hopes. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the King Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco have developed a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What do you get when you combine silk cocoons, orange peel waste, beneficial bacteria, and a dash of innovation? Quite possibly a solution to growing crops in dry places, one group of researchers hopes. Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the King Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco have developed a new coating to help seeds survive and germinate in semiarid conditions. Their development has been published in the journal Nature Food. The new seed coating consists of two layers of material applied directly to seeds before they are planted. The outer layer, made of orange peel waste processed into pectin, is designed to hold water and keep the seed from drying out during drought or water deficit. Inspired by the coats of chia and basil seeds, this layer creates a moist environment for the seed to survive until the conditions are right for germination. The inner layer of the coating, applied directly to the seed, contains a type of bacteria held in place with material derived from silkworm cocoons. When exposed to water and soil, the rhizobacteria fixes nitrogen into the soil and provides some of the nutrients the seed needs to germinate, cutting down on the need for added fertilizers. &#8220;This is the real added value to our seed coating,” Benedetto Marelli, professor of civil and environmental engineering at MIT and one of the scientists who worked on the new technology, said in a press release. “Because these are self-replicating microorganisms that can fix nitrogen for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/new-coating-could-help-seeds-survive-in-drought-conditions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246697</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Howling in the dark: Shining a light on a newly remembered wolf</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/howling-in-the-dark-shining-a-light-on-a-newly-remembered-wolf/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/howling-in-the-dark-shining-a-light-on-a-newly-remembered-wolf/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2020 06:46:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Wendle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/10053132/001_20191129_Mongabay_Morocco_Wolves_Wendle_IMG_2018-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234694</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Canids, Carnivores, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Mammals, Predators, Protected Areas, Species Discovery, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[IFRANE NATIONAL PARK, Morocco — As he guides his flock of sheep home through stands of oak and endangered Atlas cedar, Umimun Hammou feels something is wrong. Rounding a bend on the mountain trail, he sees what he has been fearing. A sheep is tangled in brush a few yards down the slope, its throat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[IFRANE NATIONAL PARK, Morocco — As he guides his flock of sheep home through stands of oak and endangered Atlas cedar, Umimun Hammou feels something is wrong. Rounding a bend on the mountain trail, he sees what he has been fearing. A sheep is tangled in brush a few yards down the slope, its throat ripped open. A little further on, he finds a second with the same wound. Red blood stains its shaggy white fleece. Foraging for the acorns lying under a thin layer of December snow, his flock had been scattered through the forest during the day. Obscured by mist, it had been impossible to keep track of the herd. Now some $600 worth of livestock are dead. “They are our enemies,” Hammou says. “If I get a way to kill a wolf, I will kill it in order to protect my sheep.” Sheep on a hillside above the town of Azrou in the Middle Atlas mountains. Sheep and goats are allowed to overgraze in Ifrane National Park, leading to erosion. Image by John Wendle for Mongabay. Hammou and other shepherds fear these seldom-seen predators, but little is known to science about the wolves found here. Golden wolves (Canis anthus) are found across North Africa, as well as in the northern Sahel regions stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east and as far south as northern Tanzania. But they were erased from formal taxonomy for 80 years. “They’re basically unknown to science,” says Liz&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/howling-in-the-dark-shining-a-light-on-a-newly-remembered-wolf/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234694</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agroforestry empowers Morocco&#8217;s mountain women</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/agroforestry-empowers-moroccos-mountain-women/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/agroforestry-empowers-moroccos-mountain-women/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2019 11:41:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/01/09192354/Femmes-Du-Rif02-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=214477</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, food security, Gender, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Poverty Alleviation, Solutions, Sustainable Development, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2017-9870]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OUEZZANE, Morocco — Suisi Rheia was checking the olives on her tree in front of the community huilerie, or olive oil mill. It was already mid-November 2018, but some fruits were still green, while others were almost totally purple. All of them were definitely full of water, not ready for the harvest due to too [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OUEZZANE, Morocco — Suisi Rheia was checking the olives on her tree in front of the community huilerie, or olive oil mill. It was already mid-November 2018, but some fruits were still green, while others were almost totally purple. All of them were definitely full of water, not ready for the harvest due to too much rain after a long period of drought. In the Rif, Morocco’s northernmost mountains, the climate is more unstable than ever. Rheia, 85, couldn’t believe that the fruits weren’t ripe yet. “I never saw anything like this in my life. Also, last summer we did not collect any figs,” she says. “At this time of the year we usually have already finished the olive harvest.” The end of the olive-picking season should have been Nov. 20, coinciding with the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Rheia’s family should also have had fresh-pressed oil on their table, especially for tajine, the popular dish named after the earthenware pot in which it’s slow-cooked. But during the summer of 2018, temperatures hit 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough to burn fig flowers. Then during the autumn, rains were so heavy that the olives weren’t ripe yet. Ripening olives. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay. Rheia and 328 other women are part of Femmes du Rif, a local “group of economic interest,” or GEO, supervised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (ONUDI). It’s a project that brings together 10 all-women cooperatives practicing agroforestry and producing olive oil in the Rif&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/01/agroforestry-empowers-moroccos-mountain-women/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-214477</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Morocco’s markets, conditions for wildlife are ‘universally poor’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/in-moroccos-markets-conditions-for-wildlife-are-universally-poor/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/in-moroccos-markets-conditions-for-wildlife-are-universally-poor/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2018 09:26:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/24082813/Morocco-tortoise-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=209628</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Herps, Mammals, Research, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Morocco’s live animal markets, a wide variety of wildlife is available for sale. There’s the threatened spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), going for around $1, and the endangered Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus), on offer for about $500 or as a photo prop. There are North African hedgehogs (Atelerix algirus), Mediterranean chameleons (Chamaeleo chamaeleon), and Egyptian cobras [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Morocco’s live animal markets, a wide variety of wildlife is available for sale. There’s the threatened spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), going for around $1, and the endangered Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus), on offer for about $500 or as a photo prop. There are North African hedgehogs (Atelerix algirus), Mediterranean chameleons (Chamaeleo chamaeleon), and Egyptian cobras (Naja haje) too. But a common thread runs through this North African country’s bustling wildlife markets: animals are often kept in poor conditions without water, food and shade, a new study has found. The market of Marrakesh has some of the highest numbers of wild-caught live animals in Morocco. Image by Daniel Bergin. Daniel Bergin, a researcher from Oxford Brookes University, U.K., who focuses on the wildlife trade in North Africa, visited wildlife markets in Marrakesh, Fez, Casablanca, Meknes, Tangier and Rabat in Morocco a total of 40 times between 2013 and 2017. Over these visits, Bergin’s team recorded the conditions in which animals were being kept: whether they had access to appropriate food and water; whether they were able to control for exposure from heat or sun; whether the material of the floor of the enclosure was comfortable; whether there was sufficient space for them to move around in; and whether they were able to hide from stress. The team scored the welfare of more than 2,100 animals, and found that the conditions of wild animals that were on sale or being used for entertainment in Morocco were almost universally poor. “Baby monkeys were picked up&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/in-moroccos-markets-conditions-for-wildlife-are-universally-poor/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-209628</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reptiles being sold openly and illegally in Moroccan markets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/reptiles-being-sold-openly-and-illegally-in-moroccan-markets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/reptiles-being-sold-openly-and-illegally-in-moroccan-markets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2017 17:45:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/04/30123414/1-African-rock-python-and-Nile-crocodile-skins-Marrakesh-765x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=194547</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Morocco]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Illegal Trade, Lizards, Reptiles, Research, Snakes, Trade, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the streets of Morocco, several species of lizards, tortoise and snakes are being sold openly for use in traditional medicine, a new study has found. Many of these species are threatened with extinction. Over the course of four surveys in 2013 and 2014, researchers recorded more than 1,500 specimens of at least nine reptile species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the streets of Morocco, several species of lizards, tortoise and snakes are being sold openly for use in traditional medicine, a new study has found. Many of these species are threatened with extinction. Over the course of four surveys in 2013 and 2014, researchers recorded more than 1,500 specimens of at least nine reptile species for sale in 14 markets in Moroccan towns, including the Mediterranean chameleon, Bell&#8217;s Dabb lizard, and the spur-thighed tortoise. Sold live, dried, or stuffed, these animals had a combined value of about $100,000, scientists report in a new study published in the journal Contributions to Zoology. &#8220;What we found most surprising was the openness of the illegal trade,&#8221; said Vincent Nijman, a professor of Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University. &#8220;These animals were not being sold in shady black markets, but were found right in the main squares, openly displayed in full view of anyone walking by. We have seen this in many markets in tropical Asia and Africa, but to see this on Europe’s doorstep was not what we expected. Also the variety of animals that were on sale was higher than we expected.&#8221; Bell’s Dabb lizards and a Spur-thighed tortoise. Animals were sometimes kept for a number of purposes, being sold as pets or medicinal products as the opportunity arises. Photo by Vincent Nijman and Daniel Bergin. Animals on sale included not only common species native to Morocco such as the Mediterranean chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon), but also rare ones like the spur thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), currently listed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/reptiles-being-sold-openly-and-illegally-in-moroccan-markets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-194547</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Morocco plants millions of trees along roads to fight climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/morocco-plants-millions-of-trees-along-roads-to-fight-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/morocco-plants-millions-of-trees-along-roads-to-fight-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Nov 2016 00:41:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/11/17002524/Goats_in_an_argan_tree-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=190958</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, Environment, Forests, Global Warming, Reforestation, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MARRAKESH, Morocco – On the new highway that runs southeast from Marrakesh and ascends toward the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, the roadside shows evidence of climate-change progress. Recently planted trees at least ten feet tall with trunks some four inches in diameter stand in short intervals for miles and miles. Morocco lost about 5 percent of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MARRAKESH, Morocco – On the new highway that runs southeast from Marrakesh and ascends toward the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, the roadside shows evidence of climate-change progress. Recently planted trees at least ten feet tall with trunks some four inches in diameter stand in short intervals for miles and miles. Morocco lost about 5 percent of its remaining dense tree cover between 2001 and 2014, according to data from the University of Maryland.  But the data, visualized on the forest monitoring platform Global Forest Watch, also show large areas of tree cover gain during the same period, indicating reforestation and afforestation &#8212; the planting of trees where they didn&#8217;t originally occur. In hosting the 22nd United Nations Climate Conference, representatives from the Moroccan government are eager speak out and demonstrate that they are serious about tackling climate change and providing a model for other African nations to follow. Morocco has relatively little dense tree cover, and that which remains  is declining due in part to desertification. Morocco&#8217;s government is using reforestation as part of its arsenal against desertification to, among other things, reduce erosion and stabilize sand dunes. Anouar Benazzouz, general manager of Morocco’s Highways Authority, caught my attention when I heard him on a panel. He proclaimed that his agency has underwritten and planted more than 3 million trees in the country over the past decade. It will plant another 800,000 before the end of 2017, he added. Many of these new trees are planted along newly paved highways. Benazzouz’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/morocco-plants-millions-of-trees-along-roads-to-fight-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-190958</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest advocates say zero-carbon goals too reliant on unrealistic tech</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/forest-advocates-say-zero-carbon-goals-too-reliant-on-unrealistic-tech/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/forest-advocates-say-zero-carbon-goals-too-reliant-on-unrealistic-tech/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Nov 2016 21:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/11/15213924/Kintigh_Generating_Station_-_Somerset_New_York-719x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=190930</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Global, Morocco, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Deforestation, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Renewable Energy, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MARRAKESH, Morocco – Forest preservation advocates, for decades the overlooked stepchildren in United Nations climate negotiations, find themselves at the center of a raging debate in the 22nd UN summit here in the Red City. The reason: the need to reduce deforestation and increase forest restoration are enshrined for the first time in the Paris [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MARRAKESH, Morocco – Forest preservation advocates, for decades the overlooked stepchildren in United Nations climate negotiations, find themselves at the center of a raging debate in the 22nd UN summit here in the Red City. The reason: the need to reduce deforestation and increase forest restoration are enshrined for the first time in the Paris Agreement, which became international law on November 4. Both are deemed critical in absorbing greenhouse gas emissions as 195 nations pledge to move steadily to reduce their burning of fossil fuels in pursuit of net zero-carbon economies in the second half of this century. The problem: the emissions reduction goals of international energy companies in Marrakesh appear to be hinged on unrealistic means. These companies keep promoting new technologies to enable the continued burning of fossil fuels and carbon-based energy, one being “bioenergy carbon capture and storage,” or BECCS. In this scenario, huge forests would be grown primarily to be burned as biomass with the carbon released from this energy production theoretically captured and stored. Critics here argue that the technology is not only land-use intensive, but also that carbon capture is costly and largely unproven. Other forms of geoengineering that would allow further fossil fuel use, like space deployed sun shades, are generally deemed by climate scientists as equally unworkable, if not laughable. “Limiting global temperature-rise by 0.5 degrees C by 2100, as written in the Paris Agreement, requires immediate and dramatic cuts in all energy sectors,” Nils Hermann Ranum, policy chief for Rainforest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/11/forest-advocates-say-zero-carbon-goals-too-reliant-on-unrealistic-tech/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-190930</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Two-thirds of the world’s population doesn’t have reliable access to fresh water</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/two-thirds-of-the-worlds-population-doesnt-have-reliable-access-to-fresh-water/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/two-thirds-of-the-worlds-population-doesnt-have-reliable-access-to-fresh-water/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Feb 2016 14:26:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/02/02175233/olympic_rainforest_0167-495x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arabian Desert, Australia, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Global, Gobi Desert, India, Jordan, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sahara Desert, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United States, and Yemen]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New research paints a sobering picture about the water crisis looming over our heads. Previous studies have estimated anywhere from 1.7 and 3.1 billion people are already living with severe water shortages. But those studies underestimated the extent of water scarcity, according to researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, who published their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New research paints a sobering picture about the water crisis looming over our heads. Previous studies have estimated anywhere from 1.7 and 3.1 billion people are already living with severe water shortages. But those studies underestimated the extent of water scarcity, according to researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, who published their findings in the journal Science Advances last week. The researchers say their results show that two-thirds of the global population &mdash; some four billion people, half of them in India or China &mdash; currently live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least one month out of the year. As many as half a billion people face severe water scarcity all year, the University of Twente researchers found. Prior studies that determined water scarcity was less widespread tended only to examine the issue at the level of very large spatial units, such as river basins, or only looked at water scarcity on an annual rather than on a monthly basis. “Measuring at a basin scale and on an annual basis hides the water scarcity that manifests itself in particular places and specific parts of the year,” the authors of the Science Advances article wrote. Previous studies also underestimated water scarcity by failing to account for the flow levels required to sustain ecosystems and livelihoods that depend on them. But “measuring the variability of water scarcity within the year helps to reveal what is actually experienced by people locally,” the researchers wrote. “More than a billion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/two-thirds-of-the-worlds-population-doesnt-have-reliable-access-to-fresh-water/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-179089</doi>				</item>
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