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Marrakech – Morocco’s National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) has mobilized more than €580 million from roughly a dozen international partners to fund its decade-long forest strategy. Some €175 million – about 40% of total commitments, equivalent to MAD 1.9 billion – has already been disbursed, the agency disclosed at a high-level meeting in Rabat on Thursday.
The session, chaired by ANEF Director General Abderrahim Houmy, brought together representatives of bilateral and multilateral institutions. Among attendees were Catherine Bonnaud, director of the French Development Agency (AFD) in Morocco, and Alexandre Anh Tai Huynh, the FAO’s representative in the country.
The event also included meetings of the steering committees overseeing programs financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The meeting served to take stock of the “Forests of Morocco 2020-2030” strategy, launched by King Mohammed VI in February 2020.
The strategy covers roughly 9 million hectares of forest land, including 5.8 million hectares of natural forest. It is structured around 17 programs.
Before its launch, Morocco was losing approximately 17,000 hectares of forest cover each year to degradation. Firewood extraction exceeded the forests’ natural regeneration capacity. Overuse of grazing land and the effects of climate change compounded the strain.
Financing is directed toward ecosystem restoration, biodiversity preservation, watershed management, the development of forest value chains, and the improvement of rural living conditions. The ANEF described its approach as one “founded on innovation, partnership and collective mobilization,” aimed at producing forests that are “resilient, productive and value-creating.”
Progress across governance, reboisement, and enforcement
The FAO’s Huynh lauded what he called Morocco’s “innovative model,” noting the country had brought biodiversity conservation, forest protection, and the fight against land degradation “into a broader model that is unique to the country and to ANEF.”
Bonnaud, for her part, cast the AFD-ANEF partnership as “crucial,” stressing the strategy’s focus on strengthening the resilience of forest ecosystems and adapting them to climate change.
On the governance front, 147 communes – 74% of those targeted – are now covered by territorial coordination efforts. The agency has recruited and trained 94 development and partnership agents against a target of 108 under the “Ghabati Hayati” program.
Some 73 forest development bodies have been established. Fifty-four concerted development plans have been drawn up. About 74% of territorial projects validated with local populations have been completed.
Financial incentives for communities have emerged as a key lever. In 2025, 530 perimeters received compensation for placing land under protective fencing, covering 80,000 hectares at a cost of MAD 45 million.
The funds went toward livestock feed, agricultural equipment, rural road construction, well-drilling, school transport, and solar panel installations. Under “Ghabati Hayati,” 237,289 hectares have been compensated – 64.7% of the 366,846-hectare target. Full payment is expected by the end of 2026.
The cooperative sector has also expanded. Some 310 forestry cooperatives are now active, holding 273 contracts with ANEF. They group nearly 19,400 members and generate an estimated MAD 15 million in annual revenue.
More than 80% of rosemary-producing areas are covered by management contracts. Cooperatives operate across aromatic and medicinal plants, timber, nurseries, and aquaculture.
Reforestation remains a central pillar. The ANEF is pursuing a program to restore 600,000 hectares by 2030, with priority given to mountain zones and native species better suited to climate stress.
Techniques include mechanized soil preparation, Waterboxx planting systems, and drone-assisted monitoring. In parallel, the agency is working to develop ecotourism across its network of 10 national parks, including Ifrane, Toubkal, Souss-Massa, and Al Hoceïma.
On enforcement, the agency is equipping its forest police with drones, body cameras, and data analytics tools to combat illegal logging, timber trafficking, and poaching. Digitalization of core operations is underway to improve field-level management.
The ANEF also signaled an expansion of international partnerships beyond its traditional donors, including South-South and triangular cooperation arrangements. The strategy, the agency said, feeds directly into Morocco’s international commitments on climate, biodiversity, and desertification.
