The degradation of forest areas in Morocco: Case of Benslimane province

Abstract

This article aims to shed light on the process of known degradation of the forest area of Benslimane province during the period 1990–2020 and to specify the most important human causes which contributed to it (quarries, extension of the built-up area, the impact of agricultural activities, grazing and collection of firewood), by using remote sensing techniques (spatial images for the years 1990–2000–2010–2020) to produce Land Cover maps. The following satellite images were used, Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI, with a spatial precision of 30 m, the Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin (SCP) in QGIS was used for atmospheric correction, and the Spectral Angle Mapping algorithm for the images’ classification. The rating evaluation of the Kappa coefficient shows the following ratios for the years 1990–2000–2010–2020 respectively ; 0.89–0.90–0.90–0.93. The results showed that the forest area of Benslimane province has declined by 11.4% or about 6,027.7 ha between 1990–2020 at the rate of 200 ha/year, which has been turned into matorral land or bare land. This forest also lost 35.2% of its vegetative density and has become much sparser, while the original grazing areas surrounding it have been reduced by 50.4%. Moreover, the area of quarries increased by 1,097.4%, the percentage of built-up area increased by 328.2%, and the agricultural area expanded by 32.7%. These results can be used as preliminary data for future studies and can help policymakers focus on the real drivers of forest degradation, in order to develop interventions to ensure the sustainability of natural resources.

Overview of Ecological Dynamics in Morocco – Biodiversity, Water Scarcity, Climate Change, Anthropogenic Pressures, and Energy Resources – Navigating Towards Ecosolutions and Sustainable Development

“…The degradation of important marine areas in Morocco is primarily due to increased economic and population activity in coastal areas, water pollution, and overfishing [24,37]. Likewise, the forest environment is threatened by unsustainable extraction of nontimber products, overgrazing, and clearing for agriculture and urbanization [38]. The area of urbanized land in Morocco is increasing annually, with more than 60% of the population living in urban areas [39].…”

Impact of climate and demographic changes on the vegetation of the M’goun Geopark UNESCO of Morocco (1984-2021)

“…Forests and woodland ecosystems in Morocco have a vital role in preserving biodiversity and supplying ecological and economic benefits (Serbouti et al, 2023), such as providing habitat for millions plants and animals (Eyvindson et al, 2018), and combat against the desertification (Benzyane, 2007). Moreover, the forestry industry in Morocco has played a significant role in the country's economy, making the largest economic contribution (African Developemnt Bank, 2000), as the quantity of wood extracted from the Moroccan forest reaches 10 million m 3 /year (Benzyane, 2007;Hammouyat et al, 2022) . In addition, Forest areas in Morocco cover 9 million hectares, which accounts for 12% of the national territory (Laaribya et al, 2017), This wealth is due to the uniqueness from a geographic, climatic, and ecological perspective (Berrahmouni & Christophe, 2013), the most representative forests in Morocco are Tetraclinis articulata forest with an area of 450,000 ha, Argania spinosa 450,000 ha, Quercus rotundifolia 400,000 ha and Quercus suber 400,000 ha (des Eaux & du Maroc, 1927).…”

“…Landsat is widely used (Ait El Haj et al, 2023;Cai et al, 2020;Dhaloiya et al, 2023;Milanović et al, 2019) by application of NDVI index (Ozyavuz, et al, 2015;Sonali et al, 2021) and supervised classification (Bispo et al, 2013;Salata, 2021). A study in Benslimane, nearby area, is carried out by Hammouyat et al, using the same process, revealed that the forest is declined by 11.4 % losing nearly 200 ha/year (Hammouyat et al, 2022), andHoussni et al (2018) showed that high formations, low formations, and matorrals have regressed by 62%, 70%, and 49% respectively in the Western Rif region of Morocco (Houssni et al, 2018).…”