RESCOM Project Launched at Bouhachem Natural Park Site in Morocco

The RESCOM project is expanding its activities in Morocco with the inclusion of a new pilot site: Bouhachem Natural Park. Established in May 2025 in the Rif region, located in the northwest of the country, the Park covers an area of 80,000 hectares, spread across three provinces and six rural communes. It stands out for its ecological diversity, combining agricultural lands, oak forests (including cork and zeen oaks), and highly valuable but still understudied wetlands.

This territory is home to remarkable biodiversity, notably the Barbary macaque (Magot monkey), an endemic species threatened with extinction, as well as numerous mammals and reptiles. However, it is subject to many anthropogenic pressures: land clearing for cultivation, including livestock farming, poaching, water abstraction, and increasing impacts of climate change (droughts, fires).

A multi-ecosystem approach at the heart of the Western Rif

A team from AIFM and Tour du Valat, members of the Mediterranean Biodiversity Consortium, visited the site during the week of April 20 to identify the RESCOM project’s intervention priorities, in partnership with the Regional Directorate of the National Agency for Water and Forests of Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma (DRANEF-TTA), which manages the Park. This mission is part of a cooperation formalized by a memorandum of understanding signed in March 2026 between ANEF, AIFM, and Tour du Valat.

The planned actions will aim to act simultaneously on forest ecosystems and wetlands and will notably include:

the participatory restoration of an approximately 20-hectare burnt forest plot, according to the international restoration standards of the Society for Ecological Restoration Europe. The plot will serve as a demonstration site for the application of this method — a first in North Africa — aiming for assisted regeneration through the planting of cork oak, zeen oak, and potentially other native species of interest to local populations (laurel, carob), taking into account the intensifying drought issues on the site;

improving knowledge of wetlands, which are still insufficiently documented, yet play a key role in water regulation and biodiversity preservation;

raising awareness among inhabitants to strengthen understanding and ownership of issues related to forest and wetland preservation, in order to support the natural park creation process and promote its long-term acceptance.

Expected ecological and social benefits, linked to the Nature-based Solution concept

The project will thus aim to restore degraded natural habitats and strengthen their ecological connectivity, essential elements for the preservation of local biodiversity, particularly the Barbary macaque. It will also contribute to reducing soil erosion and limiting runoff.

The project will also give a central role to local populations, involving them in restoration activities (reforestation, maintenance, guardianship…). It will contribute to job creation and will complement initiatives contributing to the socio-economic development of the territory, supported by ANEF and other technical and financial partners, particularly through the creation and professionalization of cooperatives related to the valorization of different sectors (forestry work, non-timber forest products, ecotourism).

The project will thus contribute to the implementation of the national strategy “Forests of Morocco 2020-2030,” supported by the AFD. The actions will be implemented with the assistance of local partner organizations of ANEF, such as the University of Tétouan and the BMC-Rif association, whose expertise and local roots are essential to guarantee the success and sustainability of the operations.

AIFM and TdV warmly thank the DRANEF and BMC-Rif teams for their welcome, availability, the quality of discussions, and their invaluable support in the technical preparation and organization of this mission, which marks a key step in strengthening cooperation between the organizations.