Rabat – Taghazout Bay will inaugurate its Targant Center and its Argan Tree Museum in May to commemorate International Argan Day, the Association for Development and Promotion of the Taghazout Station (SAPST) said earlier this week.
This inauguration is part of an event called Art’gane Days that will last from May 5 to May 10.
The Targant Center’s inaugural program will include exhibitions, workshops, and cultural activities. The SAPST will also hold conferences, which will be overseen by a committee of scientists, organic experts, and argan oil experts.
Taghazout ranked 6th in the National Geographic’s “35 incredible places to discover,” list for 2022.
Morocco submitted, in March 2021, the request to have May 10 as International Argan Day to the UN General Assembly. The proposal gained approval in the General Assembly.
Morocco celebrated its first International Day of Argan last year, a holiday commemorating the Argan tree and its unique impact on Moroccan society and economy.
In 2014, UNESCO added the Argan Tree to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) designated Morocco’s Argan-based ecosystem as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System in December 2018.
The FAO recognized Morocco’s southwestern region as a one-of-a-kind region where argan trees have been cultivated for centuries.
The President of the National Agency for the Development of Oasis and Argan Zones (ANDZOA) Brahim Hafidi reported, on April 7, that Morocco has invested MAD 105 billion ($10.7 billion) to preserve argan zones and oasises in the country.
Read also: Morocco Invests $10.7 Billion on Oasis and Argan Zones
The original habitat of the argan tree is the Souss valley in south-western Morocco, where argan forests cover more than 71% of the valley. The Souss valley is a major contributor to Morocco’s position as the world’s leading exporter of argan-based products.
