Morocco Natural Resources Management and Community Development

This document is a summary report of the U.S. Peace Corps Morocco’s “Natural Resources Management and Community Development” project concerning the Commune of Imin’tlit in the Province of Essaouira. Imin’tlit is situated within the Arganerae Biosphere Reserve in the valley to the north of Mount Amsittene. This report summarizes the ecology, agriculture, and economics of the region as revealed through participatory analysis and other sources. It also describes several possible development projects for the community.

The Commune of Imin’tlit, while relatively small (population 5,119), has been selected as one focus of an international effort to conserve and manage sensitive areas in the Mediterranean Region. This project, Gestion et conservation des sites sensibles en matiere de biodiversity has a local focus, SMAP/Essaouira, which is headed by ENDA Maghreb. It is a joint effort of several non-governmental organizations (the WWF, The Chouala Association of Education and Culture – ACEC, and the local Imin’tlit Association for the Development and Protection of the Environment) as well as Governmental bodies (Moroccan Department of Water and Forests, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Agriculture) and has received funding from the European Union. In addition to other activities, this project has performed research resulting in the creation of three reports (in French): An environmental diagnostic of the Amsittene Forest, a socio-economic diagnostic of Imin’tlit, and a study of the rural tourism potential of the Province of Essaouira. The centerpiece of the socioeconomic diagnostic is a survey undertaken in 2000 that questioned 90 families (15% of total) in the Douars of Ait Hmad, Ait Skri, and Ait Slib. This survey is the source of most of the statistics (unless noted otherwise) in this report. These reports, in combination with the application of Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) tools for the past two years, have formed the basis of this report.

本报告为美国和平队摩洛哥办事处关于埃萨乌伊拉省伊明特利特公社（Commune of Imin’tlit）的“自然资源管理与社区发展”项目总结报告。伊明特利特公社坐落于阿姆西滕山（Mount Amsittene）北侧山谷内的阿尔甘生物圈保护区（Arganerae Biosphere Reserve）范围内。本报告基于参与式分析及其他相关资料，梳理了该区域的生态、农业与经济概况，并介绍了面向该社区的多项潜在发展方案。

伊明特利特公社尽管规模较小（总人口5119人），已被选为地中海地区敏感区域保护与管理国际项目的重点关注对象之一。该项目全称为《生物多样性敏感区域管理与保护》（Gestion et conservation des sites sensibles en matiere de biodiversity），下设本地分支SMAP/埃萨乌伊拉，由ENDA马格里布牵头执行。本项目由多家非政府组织——包括世界自然基金会（WWF）、舒拉教育与文化协会（ACEC）以及本地伊明特利特发展与环境保护协会——与摩洛哥政府机构（水利与森林部、教育部、农业部）联合推进，并获得欧盟资助。

除其他活动外，本项目还开展了相关研究并形成三份法语报告：《阿姆西滕森林环境诊断报告》、《伊明特利特社会经济诊断报告》以及《埃萨乌伊拉省乡村旅游潜力研究报告》。本次社会经济诊断的核心内容为2000年开展的一项入户调查，共访问了阿伊特哈姆德、阿伊特斯克里与阿伊特斯利卜杜阿尔村落群的90户家庭，占当地总户数的15%。本报告中绝大多数统计数据（除非另有标注）均来自此次调查。上述三份报告结合过去两年应用的社区行动参与式分析（Participatory Analysis for Community Action, PACA）工具，共同构成本报告的撰写基础。