COVID-19 pandemic has had huge impacts on multiple industries and sectors, not just ecotourism and wildlife protection in Morocco. Ecological health and wildlife are a critical resource for the country's tourism sector recovery.... more
COVID-19 pandemic has had huge impacts on multiple industries and sectors, not just ecotourism and wildlife protection in Morocco. Ecological health and wildlife are a critical resource for the country's tourism sector recovery. Conservation is considered as one of the industries that are hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the threats facing biodiversity and protected areas have been exacerbated during and following, the outbreak with practices such as poaching, wildlife trafficking, and forest logging activities resumed due to the country lockdown and ecotourism collapse. Conservationists should take emergency actions in the short-term to help rural communities and grassroots organizations and review waysto achieve conservation and sustainability goals in the post-pandemic era.
The Little bustard Tetrax tetrax is one of the rarest of Morocco's resident breeding birds and one of the country's most endangered bird species. A small population estimated to be less than 10 birds was discovered during 2017 spring when... more
The Little bustard Tetrax tetrax is one of the rarest of Morocco's resident breeding birds and one of the country's most endangered bird species. A small population estimated to be less than 10 birds was discovered during 2017 spring when two displaying males were spotted in Adarouch on Morocco's central plateau. This is the first time that the little bustard was reported in this particular location which qualifies it as currently the southernmost in the world. However, after two consecutive observations in spring 2017 and 2018 in the Adarouch region, no bird was found again between 2019 and early 2020, despite intensive research. The main causes are probably the unexpected and rapid change in agriculture and pastoral practices occurred in late 2018 in the Adarouch grassland ecosystem. Further researches are urgently needed to identify other potential threats and to establish conservation measures for the remaining population of northern Morocco.
The dependence of wild seed to replenish mussel culture plots is a limiting factor in areas where spat recruitment is poor. One way to maximize recruitment of mussel spat is to optimize the artificial substrates used as collectors. This... more
The dependence of wild seed to replenish mussel culture plots is a limiting factor in areas where spat recruitment is poor. One way to maximize recruitment of mussel spat is to optimize the artificial substrates used as collectors. This study compares the performance of two 5 m long rope collectors with different diameters (14 and 32 mm) for recruiting planktonic spat in Baie de M’diq (Te´touan), an embayed area of high potential for marine aquaculture in the Alboran Sea. Multiple collectors of both diameters were suspended from a long-line system settled in this bay during the main spawning season. Each metre of the 5 m collectors was treated as a different depth grouping and the settled mussels were counted with a microscope. The mean settlement was greater on the thick collector (179.7 62.5 spat m1 ) than on the thin collector (34.7 11.6 spat m1 ). Significant differences were found in spat abundance between depth samples on thick collectors but not so on thin collectors. Spat abundance on the deepest metre of the thick collector (259.3 14.9) was twice that on the shallowest metre (107.7 11.30). These results are interpreted in terms of aggregation behaviour of mussels that seems to be influenced by length and surface of collectors placed well above the thermocline. We provide recommendations on how to maximize the artificial collection of juveniles in turbulent areas of high mussel spawning but low recruitment.
To cite this article: A. Aghzar, M. Talbaoui, M.H. Benajiba & P. Presa (2012): Small-fast growers of Mytilus galloprovincialis do not catch up: an experimental test with size-graded mussels cultured in longline suspended bags, Marine and... more
To cite this article: A. Aghzar, M. Talbaoui, M.H. Benajiba & P. Presa (2012): Small-fast growers of Mytilus galloprovincialis do not catch up: an experimental test with size-graded mussels cultured in longline suspended bags, Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, 45:3, 223-234 To link to this article: http://dx.
The optimisation of productivity in mussel hatchery requires the assessment of multi-species algae diets to enhance growth and survival during retention time. The present study monitored shell length in Mytilus galloprovincialis... more
The optimisation of productivity in mussel hatchery requires the assessment of multi-species algae diets to enhance growth and survival during retention time. The present study monitored shell length in Mytilus galloprovincialis juveniles using diets of four microalgae, Tetraselmis suecica, Isochrysis galbana, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Chaetoceros gracilis. The experiment lasted 116 days to assess shell length response, used a full-sib mussel progeny to minimise familiar effects on growth variance, and enforced a mini-raft suspension system to assure equal food deliverance to all juveniles under treatment. Shell-length increment in the 26% C. gracilis-based diet was not different from the 26% P. tricornutumbased diet except in two samplings. None differences between diets were observed neither in the growth trend nor in survival (99%). Present data indicate that multi-species algae diets incorporating C. gracilis have a slight non-significant positive effect on growth of M. galloprovincialis juveniles and that such growth gain is not compensated by its higher production cost (4 times) as compared to diets composed by cheaper and easy-culturing species such as P. tricornutum. The global cost required to fill a whole raft (ca 200 ropes) using two-month old hatchery-produced mussel juveniles (One month retention time after fixation i.e. juveniles 2,000 μm in length) fed P. tricornutum was less (1,892 €/raft) than that fed C. gracilis (7,551 €/raft) or its equivalent from rocky scrapping (2,000 €/raft).
COVID-19 pandemic has had huge impacts on multiple industries and sectors, not just ecotourism and wildlife protection in Morocco. Ecological health and wildlife are a critical resource for the country’s tourism sector recovery.... more
COVID-19 pandemic has had huge impacts on multiple industries and sectors, not just ecotourism and wildlife protection in Morocco. Ecological health and wildlife are a critical resource for the country’s tourism sector recovery. Conservation is considered as one of the industries that are hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the threats facing biodiversity and protected areas have been exacerbated during and following, the outbreak with practices such as poaching, wildlife trafficking, and forest logging activities resumed due to the country lockdown and ecotourism collapse. Conservationists should take emergency actions in the short-term to help rural communities and grassroots organizations and review waysto achieve conservation and sustainability goals in the post-pandemic era.
The population of the African continent is significantly increasing which has given rise to societal, economic and environmental changes. This will generate an increase in demand for food, water and energy. Thus, strategies for... more
The population of the African continent is significantly increasing which has given rise to societal, economic and environmental changes. This will generate an increase in demand for food, water and energy. Thus, strategies for sustainable management of natural resources need to be adopted urgently in order to match the future needs and to ensure sustainable development on the continent. The Water Energy Food (WEF) nexus is one the avenues for studying the current and future interactions and interdependencies of the WEF sectors under different scenarios and challenges in the effort towards establishing sustainable use of natural resources. Policies around the nexus approach are few or absent at the continental and countrylevels. This paper is a first review on the adoption of the Nexus in two model African countries, Morocco and South Africa. The review compares the water, energy and food sectors and the related national policies, plans and frameworks. The data related to the WEF Ne...
