Participants in the 145th edition of the Diplomatic Carrefour, held Thursday in Rabat on the occasion of the International Argan Tree Day, highlighted the role of the argan tree as a lever for integrated and sustainable development.
The speakers at this meeting, organized by the Diplomatic Foundation in the presence of accredited ambassadors in Morocco and representatives of international organizations, called for the unification of efforts to promote the potential of oasis areas and the argan tree as an ancestral source for resilient development.
In this regard, they outlined the priority issues related to improving the living conditions of the rural population, reducing social and territorial disparities, and conserving natural capital, mainly water, forests, and biodiversity.
On this occasion, the Director General of the National Agency for the Development of Oasis Zones and the Argan Tree (ANDZOA), Latifa Yaakoubi, presented the new strategic orientations of the Agency for 2030, emphasizing the need to increase the resilience of territories and ecosystems in the face of climate change, improve the well-being of populations in rural and urban areas, and diversify the economy to make it more competitive.
Ms. Yaakoubi also highlighted the importance of safeguarding and developing oasis spaces and the argan forest, stressing ANDZOA’s efforts to develop, in coordination with relevant stakeholders, a comprehensive development program for these areas.
The goal, she continued, is to ensure the optimal implementation of this program while working to accelerate sustainable development at the economic, social, cultural, environmental, and human levels.
For his part, the president of the Diplomatic Foundation, Abdelati Habek, recalled the UN recognition of the significant contribution of the argan tree to sustainable development in its three dimensions: economic, social, and environmental.
The Kingdom, under the enlightened leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, has established various strategies and initiatives for sustainable development while developing harmonious, effective, and efficient programs for the preservation of its natural resources, particularly the argan and oasis areas, which constitute a national natural heritage, he noted.
He added that in the face of climate change, environmental diplomacy plays a key role in political decision-making at the international level.
MAP