Earthquake, logging, and drought push centuries old Moroccan cypress trees to extinction

The Atlas cypress, a rare and endemic tree species found only in Morocco’s N’Fiss Valley, is facing extinction, ecologists warn, following the September 2023 earthquake and decades of unsustainable human activity.

Covering just 2,180 hectares today, down from an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 hectares in the mid-20th century, Cupressus atlantica Gaussen is now classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization lists it among 17 global forest species with increasingly impoverished genetic heritage.

Once studied with fascination by botanists since its discovery by French forestry inspector Charles Watier in 1921, the bluish-foliaged Atlas cypress is now threatened by grazing, deforestation, and climate-induced drought.

 Its wood has long been used for heating and construction, while its foliage feeds local goat herds and is used in traditional medicine, practices that combined with chronic overgrazing, have weakened the species’ ability to regenerate.

The September 8, 2023 earthquake, which severely damaged the Tinmel mosque and other heritage sites in the valley, also destroyed many ancient cypresses. 

One tree, over 600 years old, was cut down during roadworks, while others were lost during rubble clearing and reconstruction in affected villages.

Experts say climate change has compounded these pressures. Morocco has faced persistent drought for six consecutive years, further threatening the survival of this slow-growing conifer.

Conservationists are now calling for urgent protective measures, including restrictions on grazing and logging, the creation of protected forest zones, and community engagement to raise awareness. 

Some advocate for urban forest projects to preserve the species outside its native range, as well as active reforestation using genetically resilient specimens.