Morocco and the European Investment Bank (EIB) inked a 100-million-euro funding deal on Thursday to support Morocco’s 2020-2030 forest policy strategy, the Bank announced in a press release.
The funding agreement is structured around three main components: adaptation to climate change, biodiversity promotion, and institutional capacity improvement for effective and coordinated implementation of the plan.
The first component focuses on assisting watershed development plans to restore trees, prevent erosion, maintain water resources, and improve soil fertility. It comprises afforestation, aided natural regeneration, mechanical erosion control, ravine revegetation, and the establishment or maintenance of forest trails.
The second component of the agreement encompasses biodiversity protection and the promotion of ecotourism in national parks, which includes the conservation and restoration of ecosystems and species, the creation of appropriate infrastructure, and the marketing of ecotourism.
The third component aims to provide technical assistance to Morocco’s National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) in the preparation and execution of the project and supporting sectors through a grant from the European Union Neighborhood Investment Facility.
The ambitious plan is intended to restore forest ecosystems over an area of more than 600,000 hectares, combat soil erosion and regulate water run-off, create more than 27,500 additional direct jobs, and increase the market value generated by the productive and ecotourism sectors to a half billion euros a year.
“Within the framework of the EU-Morocco Green Partnership, we are supporting the Morocco’s Forests strategy,” Ambassador of the European Union to Morocco Patricia Pilar Llombart Cussac stated. “We are working with the EIB to protect and restore watersheds, develop national parks in a sustainable way, and strengthen participatory management of forest resources by users.”
The agreement, signed in the presence of the ANEF’s Director General Abderrahim Houmy, and endorsed by the Delegate Minister to the Minister of Economy and Finance in charge of the Budget, Fouzi Lekjaa, and the Director of Operations for neighboring countries of the European Union at the EIB, Lionel Rapaille, is part of the framework of cooperation between Morocco and the EIB and covers the period 2024-2028.