Assessing land degradation and sensitivity to desertification using MEDALUS model and Google Earth Engine in a semi-arid area in Southern Morocco: Case of Draa watershed

In Morocco, desertification affects a large area. It is more pronounced as the climate is arid with increasingly a long drought and poor soils that are highly vulnerable to erosion. In addition, the precarious living conditions of rural populations grow to overuse natural resources to meet their growing needs, which amplifies further environmental degradation. In this study, we have used the MEDALUS model to develop the sensitivity map of the Draa watershed. It is very characterized by its topographic, geomorphologic, and hydrological aspects and  bioecological qualities. The MEDALUS approach has allowed us to identify the different parameters and to calculate the four indexes needed for this algorithm. The sensitivity of desertification depends on the quality of soil, climate, vegetation, and management system.An aridity index featured the climate was established by using eight climate stations' data. The soil quality is determined by the texture maps, depth, slope, and parental materials from the geological maps of the investigated region. The quality of vegetation to combat desertification is performed by its resistance to drought, fire risk, ability to soil erosion, and plant cover calculated from the Sentibel-2 imagery and performed in Google Earth Engine (GEE). Finally, we had approached the last indicator by land-use intensity and poverty rate from the Census data. The sensitivity map was established by combining the four indexes. The results indicate that the most part of the Drâa watershed is threatened by desertification and represent low resistance to drought and low protection against erosion. Aridity affects more than 63% and this conditions make the area very vulnerable to desertification. These results could be help the decision-makers and policy to better manage and mitigate desertification impacts under global changes

Climate Change adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic: some lessons for future climate action

The COVID-19 pandemic is more than a health crisis: it has shaken societies and economies at their core. According to the United Nations, the pandemic has the potential to exacerbate poverty and inequalities globally, which makes accomplishing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) all the more urgent. This has led to increasing pressure for governments to adjust and implement public policies to address not only the health crisis, but also its potential intersections with other local, regional or global crises. It has become obvious that climate risks, which are expected to increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change, are likely to overlap with the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health responses. This poses a crucial policy challenge: while keeping in mind the climate goals and containment of the pandemic, governments are increasingly faced with the urgency of defining options for adaptation to climate and biodiversity changes. Investing in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral risk assessments is evidently off the essence. Proposed solutions also need to be better integrated, considering interactions, trade-offs and associated benefits. We believe that the integration of ecosystem services—the benefits that people derive from nature—in development strategies will help bring about more sustainable trajectories. Many SDGs rely on the provision of one or more ecosystem services. Understanding how these services can bolster multiple objectives is essential to synergistic planning and cost-effective interventions to build targeted resilience to climate change. Based on a cross-analysis of a range of high-level documents aimed at encouraging climate-resilient development proposed by Morocco, this article details possible contributions of ecosystem services to the realization of the SDGs’ environment-related targets, identifies entry points and tools to further evaluate the role of ecosystem services in supporting the SDGs in Morocco, and introduces a conceptual framework to study these complex relationships in the face of multiple risks and crises

Détermination des écoulements préférentiels en zone karstique (Tafrata, Maroc), Apport des données satellitaires SAR ERS-1 et Landsat ETM+ et de la prospection géophysique

Malgré le grand nombre de puits et forages d’eau réalisés dans les différentes régions karstiques du Maroc, de nombreux inconnus subsistent encore concernant les critères d’implantation et le coût final des ouvrages. Afin d’optimiser les campagnes de forage à venir, une méthodologie de prospection multicritère a été adoptée dans la région karstique nord‑orientale du Maroc. Elle s’articule selon trois axes, à savoir : 1) détermination des linéaments hydrogéologiques à partir du traitement et interprétation des images satellitaires radar SAR ERS-1 et Landsat ETM+; 2) application de la géophysique électrique par (a) sondages électriques pour la détermination des épaisseurs des niveaux d’altération et de fracturation et par (b) trainées électriques pour la localisation précise de la zone de passage des linéaments hydrogéologiques, et finalement 3) application des techniques de Sondage par Résonance Magnétique (SRM) pour la vérification de la présence d’eau. Les différents résultats de sondages mécaniques réalisés à la suite de cette campagne de prospection montrent un taux de réussite très satisfaisant.In spite of the great number of water wells and drillings carried out in various karstic areas of Morocco, many unknown factors still remain concerning criteria for installing such works and for the final costs. To optimize future drilling campaigns, a multi-criteria method of prospecting was adopted in the karstic area of north-eastern Morocco. It is presented according to three axes: 1) the determination of hydrogeologic lineaments based on the analysis and interpretation of SAR ERS-1 and Landsat ETM+ images; 2) the application of electrical resistivity methods by (a) vertical electric soundings (VES) for the determination of the thicknesses of weathered layers and of fractures, and by (b) electric resistivity profiling for the determination of the exact location of hydrogeological lineament zones; and finally, 3) the application of Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) for the verification of the presence of water. The various results of mechanical drilling carried out following this prospecting campaign show a very satisfactory rate of success

Projections of extreme soil moisture drought in southern Moroccan watersheds under anthropogenic climate warming

The intensification of drought conditions across North-Western Africa is one of the most expected consequences of anthropogenic global warming. However, the effects of 1.5-3 °C policy-relevant global warming on soil moisture drought events remain unknown at the catchment scale. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of these events across four semi-arid catchments in Southern Morocco. We use soil moisture simulation from an ensemble of four Land Surface Models (LSMs) forced with bias-adjusted climate projections from four Global Climate Models (GCMs) under three Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs 2.6, 6.0, and 8.5). The ensemble projects an unprecedented increase in drought events duration, persistence, and severity, driven by global warming intensification, across all catchments. Under 3 °C global warming, which is the current track, these catchments are projected to experience decades-long (up to 20 years) mega-droughts compared to a maximum drought duration of 7 years under 1.5 °C and 11 months in the historical period (1971-2000). This intensification is accompanied by an increase in drought persistence and order of magnitude (12-16x) of historical drought severity. Under these conditions, a strong increase in aridity, especially in winter and spring, from 9-11 mm under 1.5 °C to 17-22 mm is projected under 3 °C global warming. Given these large changes, historical drought extremes might be considered the new normal conditions in the future. For these reasons, further assessments are needed more urgently than ever to investigate the impact of these extreme events on society and evaluate possible mitigation strategies in the context of uncertainty to provide reliable information to minimize the negative effects of these events

Understanding the trade-offs between climate change-induced aridity and agricultural water demand in the Souss basin, Morocco

The concept of integrated water resource management requires an in-depth analysis of water inflows into a river basin. Population growth and the uncertainties associated with climate change are causing increased water stress and droughts, which are impacting agriculture. Hence the need for studies on the impact of climate change on demand-supply interactions in river basins. In this study, a generic decision support system, ModSim, was used; for the first time in the region; to examine the agricultural water usage and demands over Souss basin in Morocco. ModSim was calibrated over the period from 1990 to 2019 using recorded data about physical processes and hydraulic infrastructures features and management. The simulations succeeded in replicating different deficit episodes at the various irrigated perimeters. During the simulated period from 2012 to 2019, it was observed that the water supplies for the different dams in the basin experienced a decline ranging from 38% to 89%. As a result, the average total unmet demand for surface water from reservoirs in irrigated areas reached 201 mm3 between 1990 and 2019 and the monthly average demand increases by 55% in the dry season, compared to the demands in the rest of the year. The significant amount of unmet demand across all sites suggests that demands are satisfied by the withdrawal of water from groundwater resources. The adopted approach has proven to be a useful decision support tool to understand water resources planning challenges. Water managers require such reliable tools to represent the basin's water trade-offs. Thus, additional investigation to improve the representation of groundwater/surface water interaction approaches is required to enhance the evaluation of the consequences of different uses, especially in arid and semi-arid regions with significant water stress such as Souss. A conceptual framework as well as a detailed discussion have been produced in order to guide efficient water management and governance

Potential Interactions between Climate and Prehistoric Populations in Southern Morocco: Insights from Archaeological and Paleoclimatic Evidence

Southern Morocco contains a rich archaeological record: engraving, painted rocks, and funerary monuments. This pre-historic and proto-historical heritage offers valuable information about the environmental context of pre-historic settlements. However, the Southern Moroccan archaeological record suffers from dating scarcity. And hence, the difficulty in establishing a reliable chronology. Most of the archaeological sites date from 7000 to 1000 years BP and are marked by a transition period from a humid to dry climate during the late Holocene. The relatively drier conditions likely resulted in adopting a new lifestyle characterized by cattle ranching, agriculture, and animal domestication. Holocene's enormous climatic oscillations significantly influenced the development of human settlements in the region. The concentration of archaeological archives confirms the existence of sufficient water supply in an area that is today semi-desertic. Therefore, the sedentarization and the development of well-stylized rock art, in addition to the grouping of funerary monuments or tumuli with complex geometry, mark the wet and rainy periods. Meanwhile, unstable communities and long distances migration are often the features that characterize the long dry periods

A Network of Transdisciplinary Observation Mechanisms as a Digital Source of Knowledge on Rangeland, to Communicate and Exchange at Local, Regional and Global Scales

For several decades, interventions geared towards the development of drylands have been the catalysts of much change in a rapidly evolving world, and learning how to build sustainable trajectories that take into account both cultural and contextual variations is becoming of increasingly great import. As local problems become intertwined, and given the difficulty of large-scale collective action, understanding these dynamics requires cognizance of all levels of knowledge governance systems and their interactions. So far as rangelands are concerned, the lack of easily accessible documentation encompassing all knowledge to date is a major impediment to their sustainable development. With this in mind, polycentric governance would allow for centralized decision-making, which would then give rise to solutions that could be adapted to local conditions. Recent advances in technology and the proliferation of data are creating new opportunities for monitoring the progress and performance of multi-scale development efforts, and indeed new and non-traditional data sources will be paramount to the success of such endeavours. For instance, participatory observation is an emerging example of a non-traditional data source that is already making a significant contribution, and has fostered engagement at the community level. We seek to demonstrate the value of implementing transdisciplinary observation mechanisms—here, in relation to Southern Countries’ pastoral systems—and to provide concrete examples of how such mechanisms can be adopted for mainstreaming the use of data from a variety of sources, thereby facilitating the implementation of a sustainable development agenda as part of a continuous learning process. This project has been managed within the framework of the Agadir Platform, infrastructure supported and implemented by Ibn-Zohr University, Morocco

Water resources status to global changes in the Taznakht plain ,Draa basin, Morocco

The southern part of Morocco is mostly an arid area despite the geographical situation of Morocco on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coast. Extreme water scarcity exists in the Taznakht region, the study area, which is located in the central part of southeastern Morocco. The water resources are mainly drawn from groundwater using wells and Khettaras known as traditional irrigation systems. This study analyzes how climate and anthropic factors impact the state of water resources in the plain of Taznakht throughout the last decades (1985-2015). A statistical analysis was conducted using climate data to identify climate trends in the area. With remote sensing, the diachronic evolution of vegetation into the plain was tracked to observe the impact of the resulting trends. Then, a spatial distribution of Khettaras all over the plain was established and their state of functioning was related to the evolution of agricultural fields. The results showed a clear impact of drought phases on vegetation throughout the 30-year study implying a vulnerable water state. Focusing on one particular village, it was also determined that the disappearance of Khettaras due to climate change, extensive pumping, and lack of maintenance by locals and depending on less ecologic irrigation systems contributed to the disappearance of agricultural fields. This situation indicates that global warming and climate change are very serious problems for water management in Taznakht region. It was also discussed that after 2005, due to the Green Morocco Plan (PMV), these climate and anthropic impacts did not affect vegetation as much as in previous years. These impacts do not only affect the ecosystem of Taznakht plain, but also the socio-economic situation of its population, so continuing with applying similar PMV strategies along with encouraging the process of Khettaras renovation and recovery is the right path for a well-balanced lifestyle in the area