Morocco’s forest planting drive struggles as watchdog flags waste, low success rates

Morocco is losing about 17,000 hectares of forest every year, and efforts to reverse that trend through tree planting are falling short, according to a report by the Court of Auditors.

The watchdog says forest reforestation programs are plagued by planning gaps, weak follow-up and technical problems, even as the country’s forest cover faces mounting pressure from climate change, overuse, fires and expanding human activity. 

Morocco’s forest area covers around 9 million hectares, but its condition continues to deteriorate.

One of the main issues highlighted is overgrazing. Livestock pressure on forest grazing areas is estimated to be nearly three times higher than what ecosystems can handle. 

At the same time, environmental conditions needed for young trees to grow are worsening, while reforestation operations have declined over the years instead of scaling up.

The report points to the lack of a clear, integrated vision for reforestation, from the early stages of selecting suitable seeds to producing high-quality seedlings and maintaining planted areas over time. 

It also notes serious shortcomings in the system used to supply quality seeds, which undermines forest rehabilitation efforts from the start.

Nurseries are another weak link. The audit found that forest nurseries do not have the capacity to produce enough seedlings to meet the targets set under Morocco’s forest strategy. Even worse, many seedlings that are produced end up unused.

Between 2014 and 2023, nearly 43.7 million forest seedlings were never planted, despite costing about MAD 92.4 million to produce. 

That represents roughly 22% of total production and is equivalent to the number of seedlings needed to reforest about 87,500 hectares.

Unused seedlings observed during field visits were often kept in poor technical conditions. After about two years, many became unsuitable for planting due to imbalanced root and branch growth or disease, sharply reducing their chances of surviving if planted later.

Even when planting does take place, results are mixed. From 2010 to 2023, the overall success rate of reforestation projects did not exceed 56%. Out of more than 411,000 hectares planted, only about 231,000 hectares were considered successful. 

The situation worsened in the 2022–2023 season, when the success rate fell to 51%.