Where we work
Our efforts are purposely concentrated in the High Atlas region due to its rich floristic diversity and the increasing external threats it faces. We primarily operate in the following sites and continuously work to expand our reach.
In Ourika’s all-girls boarding school, we established a 6000 m2 botanical garden in collaboration with ABDBO, which has hosted our environmental education program since 2014. We facilitate interactive workshops designed to develop the girls’ skills and knowledge of plant conservation, plant uses, permaculture techniques, and traditional conservation practices.
The girls help with the planting, cultivating thousands of seeds in the garden’s greenhouse, which they share with their families, friends, and communities. Most importantly, they reap the rewards of their hard work by harvesting delicious fruits and vegetables that sustain the school’s meals for 130 resident students and staff.
Imdegal commune has become home to many of our projects, including two of our plant nurseries and a seed bank. In collaboration with Imdoukal Znaga, a local cooperative whose members are mostly small farmers, the first plant nursery was established in 2014. To meet the high demand for our seedlings in the region, a second plant nursery was set-up in 2021.
The local community’s strong interest in our initiatives from the outset ensures seamless functioning of our initiatives on site. Every year, both plant nurseries generate an average of 50,000 seedlings of 35 species, which are distributed to community members or planted in the wild to restore balance and ensure endemic and endangered species conservation.
Ait M’hamed commune is the host of another community plant nursery and seek bank, generating an average of 35 000 plants per year, which are distributed to local farmers, cooperatives and schools. The community’s favourite species to receive are rosemary, oregano and holly oak. Ait M’hamed is an important centre for MBLA’s Agroecology workshops, which teach farmers, shepherds, and cooperatives how to improve management of their land and natural resources.
In 2019, MBLA collaborated with the local Ait Lkak association to construct a community plant nursery with agricultural terraces divided into 24 plots and drip irrigation to conserve water. This plant nursery currently cultivates 26 endemic, endangered, and valuable plant species, including Origanum majorana L. and Lavandula dentata L.
This location also houses a seed bank, which we established to encourage farmers to share and conserve local seed varieties. It is conveniently located next to our plant nursery.
In collaboration with the AESVT association, we established a 2400m2 community nursery in the village of Agoudime in the commune of Zaouiat Ahansal in 2021.
This community plant nursery aims to protect endangered and endemic species by reproducing them, distributing them to community members, and carrying out regenerative planting in the wild. This initiative also supports local communities by providing aromatic and medicinal plant seedlings to local cooperatives and training farmers on sustainable agricultural practices.
A seed bank has been set up in the premises of Amaguar cooperative for the conservation of endangered species, climate-resilient local varieties and endemic species of the region and Morocco.
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