Forest and silvopastoral cover changes and its drivers in northern Morocco.

[en] In northern Morocco, forest and silvopastoral areas have always formed an integral part of goat feeding and consequently of extensive livestock systems. However, it was reported that these areas are now going through a gradual degradation mainly due to overgrazing, resulting in land use-land cover (LULC) changes. Doubts persist about actual goat grazing impacts on forest and silvopastoral cover changes. Detecting and understanding drivers of LULC changes has become a central component of current strategies for managing natural resources to implement appropriate development policies. The objectives of this study were to assess the forest and silvopastoral cover changes and transition among ﬁve major land cover classes that took place in the last three decades (1984–2014), to verify the hypothesis that goats act as a main driver of forest and silvopastoral de-gradation, and to explore the perception of stakeholders based on remote sensing data, ﬁeld surveys, and overall statistics. Between 1984 and 2014, forest and silvopastoral areas declined by 25% (matorral included). Farmers and local institutions all agreed that drought, ﬁre, soil erosion, and population growth are the most striking drivers of forest and silvopastoral decreases. One being utilitarian and the other protectionist, they have con-ﬂicting perceptions about the eﬀect of agricultural expansion, authority policy, deforestation, and overgrazing. The forest cover change is impacted by interaction among diﬀerent change drivers. The levels of forest de-gradation depend on the intensity of this interaction. The outcomes conﬁrm the alarming decrease in the amount of forest and silvopastoral cover. These results can be used as the ﬁrst guide for future studies and decision-makers, focusing on the real drivers of forest and silvopastoral degradation, so as to develop targeted intervention to secure sustainable and suﬃcient resources needed for animal and population well-being.

Disciplines :

Environmental sciences & ecology

Author, co-author :

Chebli, Youssef ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Doct. sc. vété. (paysage)

Chentouf, Mouad

Ozer, Pierre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > DER Sc. et gest. de l'environnement (Arlon Campus Environ.) > DER Sc. et gest. de l'environnement (Arlon Campus Environ.)

Hornick, Jean-Luc ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Dpt. de gestion vétérinaire des Ressources Animales (DRA) > Nutrition animale en milieu tropical

Cabaraux, Jean-François ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Dpt. de gestion vétérinaire des Ressources Animales (DRA) > Ecologie de la santé et des productions animales

Language :

English

Title :

Forest and silvopastoral cover changes and its drivers in northern Morocco.

Alternative titles :

[fr] Changements du couvert forestier et sylvopastoral et ses conducteurs au nord du Maroc.

Publication date :

2018

Journal title :

Applied Geography

ISSN :

0143-6228

eISSN :

1873-7730

Publisher :

Elsevier, Netherlands

Volume :

101

Pages :

23-35

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.10.006

Available on ORBi :

since 03 November 2018

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