Casablanca Residents March for Green Spaces Amid Urban Development Concerns

On Sunday, dozens of Casablancans stormed the gardens of the Hermittage to defend their right to an ecological city, more respectful of nature. The civic march was initiated by the Association of Life and Earth Science Teachers (AESVT Maroc).

"We are very far from the 10 m² per inhabitant. Casablanca 1 m²". "Together for a forest of the future" or "Mother nature, you love it or you lose it", could be read on the placards brandished by the marchers who, through this march, want to draw the attention of both citizens and officials to the fact that the development of green spaces in cities remains a necessity, according to 2M.ma.

According to the president of AESVT, "green spaces are not only for public health, but remain a vital means to solve the problem of air pollution, as well as to improve the relationships between people in the neighborhoods". Abderrahim Ksiri stressed that experts have identified about thirty ecological, social and cultural functions that these spaces can play. He also noted that the city of Casablanca is "very far" from the 10 m² per person rule set by the United Nations. And to regularize the situation and restore the balance, he thinks that it is necessary to "curb its galloping urbanization, because its annual extension, estimated at 600 hectares, is enormous, in the absence of a new approach to green spaces".

The march for green spaces comes on the heels of a planting campaign in the Bouskoura forest, in the southern suburbs of Casablanca, and marks the end of the "Green Week 2020", organized by AESVT in several cities, from February 24 to March 1, 2020. It was marked by scientific conferences on the selected themes, planting and reforestation actions in various places, such as forests, urban spaces, schools and universities.

According to AESVT, collective awareness and the development of civic behavior among citizens require extensive awareness-raising work and the opening of structured debates on strategies, in order to propose credible and feasible solutions and alternatives.