Moroccan Blue Lagoon Ecosystem at Risk as Government Launches Controversial Rehabilitation Project

More than 20,000 people derive their income from this nature reserve through fishing, agriculture, tourism and livestock farming. It is an ecological area protected by the Ramsar Convention for the protection of wetlands of international importance, a convention to which Morocco has been a party since 1980.

However, to the great consternation of all, the Ministry of Equipment has launched a "rehabilitation" operation by "opening an estuary at the level of the lagoon by removing the sand" even though it is protected by an international convention ratified by Morocco, reports the Arabic-language site alyaoum24.com.

Thus, it no longer falls under the public maritime domain, but rather under the jurisdiction of the High Commission for Water and Forests.

This sand removal operation constitutes a threat to this area, and will violate the convention, signed on February 2, 1971, which stipulates that any change in the wetlands concerned must be in accordance with the international convention.

It should be recalled that the States Parties to the Ramsar Convention are committed to the wise use of wetlands in order to ensure the maintenance of biodiversity and the well-being of local populations and to reduce poverty.