One of the biggest problems that I see in Morocco is trash. You can literally see it everywhere. From the Medina to the countryside, the entire country seems to be plagued with trash. This may sound like a frustrated college student’s rant about how a developing country is dirty, but it deeply disturbs me on an ecological level that people are OK with throwing their trash in the street, out the window, or in the forest. Everywhere you go, no matter how “close to nature” you try to come if people have been there before you, you’ll find evidence of their existence. While my homestay family in Rabat has a trashcan under the sink in the kitchen, they still persist in throwing some of their trash out the window. And in the streets, I constantly see people just flicking the wrappers and bottles for their candy or juice wherever they happen to be standing. I know that I am not the only one who feels that things could be better with the trash situation in Morocco. Mami is always watching this TV show about the people who live on trash dumps and who clean the streets in big cities, like Casablanca and Fez, and it’s heart wrenching to hear some of their stories. She also tells me that she doesn’t like that there is basically a garbage dump on one side of our house. For the most part, I don’t think the general population knows or understands the impact that their waste has on the environment and on their health, and that worries me. Education is always a good thing in my opinion, and in this case it is necessary.
Apart from the trash everywhere, I have seen some quite spectacular sites that Morocco has been more known for: the Sahara and the Middle or High Atlas Mountains. All are absolutely spectacular and have their own specialty. The Middle Atlas is known for its cedar forests, which sadly are being depleted at an alarming rate of 30,000 hectares per year due to the constant demand for cedar products. However, there have been government initiatives to help work with the people living on the National Park land to help preserve the fragile ecosystems which they are a part of. As part of our tour through the Middle Atlas we stopped at two cedar forest locations: one was to have a picnic in a more secluded part of the forest, and the other was to see the famous Barbary Macaques. The second was definitely a place where Moroccans and tourists alike frequented to have picnics and enjoy the forest, but you could definitely see the strain being placed on the trees.
Another more somber theme we covered during our short tour of the Middle Atlas was the usage and mismanagement of water resources and the impact of different forms of agriculture. Agriculture makes up about 16% of Morocco’s GDP, a very impressive number, and about 40% of people farm either in larger industrial farms or as subsistence farmers, meaning they grow what they need using more traditional methods and sometimes have a extra to sell for additional income. As we were driving near Meknes for the second time in our program, the expansive vineyards I saw lining the highway began to take on another meaning. Those large vineyards are part of a new trend in agriculture in Morocco that puts more emphasis on industrial farms like the ones I saw, and pushing subsistence farmers away from growing cereals to a type of farming based on harvesting from trees. Why trees you may ask? Because Morocco is being increasingly affected by drought, and trees like olives have a better resistance to those droughts and don’t need as much water as growing grains like barley. This seems like a logical initiative for the government to take, especially in areas where rainfall is becoming increasingly scarce, but what will happen when the country that eats bread like it’s going out of style doesn’t produce as much grain? I’m sure the government has already considered this issue (at least I hope they have), but I still just have to ask.
To add to the increasingly somber mood about deforestation, water mismanagement, and climate change, we next ventured into the Sahara. On all counts a spectacular place to visit, however, we happened to arrive in Rissani, a major town that is on the border of the desert, just as the wind was picking up, and dust storms were a significant issue. Yet, we still managed to visit a private co-operative initiative, which worked mostly with women and children to help create a more sustainable and diversified economy to the areas and villages it works with. They provide literacy, weaving, and math classes as well as daycare so that women can not only contribute to the family economy but also take on an informed role about their rights. This was very inspiring for me because I am so interested in education in all forms, and I couldn’t resist buying a couple handkerchiefs when I knew that the women who made them would be getting a fair price for their work. Next, we ventured out into the desert area where the co-operative had developed an oasis project that allowed people of the area to have water provided by the wells dug by a government initiative by irrigating a small plot of land on which they could grow grains. After that, the not-so-educational fun started. As we checked into our hotel, it was hard not to notice the Saharan sand dunes looming behind it. This was quite possibly the thing that I have anticipated the most throughout this entire trip, and I was not disappointed! The Sahara is a stunning place that can only be partially captured in pictures, so I won't try to explain it in words except for these: vast, sandy and mountainous.
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