Conservation, valuation and sustainable development issues of the Argan Tree Biosphere Reserve in Morocco

Abstract

The argan tree is a multi-purpose tree (fruit tree, medicinal, cosmetic, and pastoral plant) found in the semi-arid and arid regions of North Africa. It is under strong human pressure such as the impact of population growth, crop expansion, overgrazing, and wood and fruit exploitation that are also the main causes of desertification in the rest of the world. Over the years, interest in this beneficial tree and demand for its products have increased: especially with the increase in the price of argan oil, which is now one of the most expensive and much in demand oils in the world. This increase has led to many socio-political, economic and cultural changes at the national, regional and local levels, especially in farming behaviour and the habits of the local population. This bibliographic research was therefore conducted in order to analyse the various changes and their consequences on the planning, conservation, and management methods implemented in the argan tree area and their effects on the habits of the local population in order to ensure the sustainability of the Argan Tree Biosphere Reserve in Morocco. Indeed, the aims of this study were, firstly, to analyse the change dynamic of argan forest area in the ABR; and secondly, to investigate the impact of various socio-political, economic and cultural changes resulting from increased prices of argan oil on planning, conservation, and management methods of argan tree ecosystem and on the habits of the local population.

Valorization of argan oil: all you need to know about argan oil from Morocco

“…All operations were mechanized except the crushing which has remained traditional. A detailed technical study of this process is described in the literature (Sinsin et al, 2020). A machine of local manufacture carries out the pulping operation.…”

“…The extraction of the oil is done in an artisanal way, it results, on the one hand, a loss of 45% of oil in the cake, corresponding to 1,530 tons (Charrouf and Guillaume, 2018), and on the other hand a loss of hygienic and sanitary nature. The rate of oil extraction could be increased, and its quality could be improved by the introduction of appropriate technology that would ensure the extraction of 95% of the existing oil in the kernel (Sinsin et al, 2020).…”

Assessing the influence of different Synthetic Aperture Radar parameters and Digital Elevation Model layers combined with optical data on the identification of argan forest in Essaouira region, Morocco

“…The cumulative effects of overgrazing, arid climate, poor natural regeneration, and anthropomorphic impacts have exacerbated the decline in tree cover and density. In addition, the overexploitation of the argan tree is irrational, especially given the current high demand for argan oil on the international market (Sinsin et al 2020), and climate change, combined with the rarity of natural regeneration, has led to a regression of its range area (Said Ali et al 2022).…”