“A crime against the environment”, activist movement calls for ceasing palm tree plantations 

Ecological group ‘Morocco Environment 2050’ movement has openly criticized the government for over-planting palm trees in urban spaces in the last three years and called for stricter urban planning.

The movement took to the streets for the first time since its inception in 2020, protesting in front of the parliament weak government engagement over what they called a ‘a crime against the environment.’

Protestors called on the country’s officials to avoid haphazard urban planning that not only harms citizens, but also further damages an already fragile ecosystem, weakened by drought and climate change.

Salima Belmqdem, president of ‘Morocco Environment 2050’ and a landscape architect considers the implantation of palm trees a serious environmental offense.

“Replacing fruit trees with palm trees can be seen as a crime against the environment, especially in light of Morocco’s harsh climatic conditions,” she wrote in a post on the movement’s Facebook page.

The strong opposition to palm trees is rooted in the very nature of these trees, which are only suitable for oases. The movement explains that palm trees fail to provide the ecological benefits that other trees offer, such as absorbing carbon dioxide, producing oxygen, stabilizing dust, enhancing ecological diversity, and providing crucial shade during record  temperatures.

Although there is no official estimation of the number of imported palm trees planted in the country, citizens have expressed their discontent with the increasing plantation of these species. 

A call to action signed by over 3,500 Moroccans in 2023, addressed to the Minister of Urban Planning and Urban Policy, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, and the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, called for on an end of this “constitutional and legal violation of the rights of the Moroccan citizen to life and the safety of his environment.” 

The province of Chichaoua marks a rare victory for ‘Morocco Environment 2050’, being the first to impose a total ban on planting palm trees on the sides of streets and in all public and green spaces within the city of Chichaoua, back in 2023. 

The council based its decision on several legal texts, primarily Articles 31, 90, and 91 of the Moroccan Constitution and the Framework Law No. 12-99, which serves as the National Charter for Environment and Sustainable Development, to prevent and regulate the planting of municipal palm trees.

Commenting on this positive advancement, Salima Belmqadem said in a statement to Hespress that “territorial actors, especially elected officials, rarely act towards protecting the environment, locally and even globally, and only those who truly grasp the meaning of the environment operate in this direction.”