Morocco’s Historic Oases Vanish as Drought Ravages Landscape

There is practically nothing left in the M’hamid El Ghizlane oasis located in southeastern Morocco. The lush, green date palms are dead. The river that crossed the oasis all year round has given way to a cracked and dried-up soil. Gazelles and sheep used to drink on its shaded banks, surrounded by the dense palm groves, recalls Halim Sbai, a music teacher and orchestra conductor who lived in this oasis. He only has memories left. "Droughts are becoming more and more frequent. The palm trees surrounding the oasis are dying one after the other," he says.

Formerly, oasis habitats were multi-layered. Date palms provide shade for other arable crops, such as wheat and vegetables, according to The Washington Post. Livestock grazes on the land and meets the needs of the communities. "These are systems that have withstood all the impacts of climate change over time," said Youssef Brouziyne, representative of the International Water Management Institute for the Middle East and North Africa, noting that scientists are studying oases to understand how to make other ecosystems more resilient. But a major problem remains: lack of rain, as well as new intensive agricultural systems that jeopardize the balance. "When the palm tree dies, the oasis disappears," notes, for his part, Aomar Boum, an anthropologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in the Middle East and North Africa.

The worst is foreseeable. By 2100, annual rainfall is expected to decrease by 30% in the Saharan regions, which are home to many of the country’s oases. "The drying up of the soil has contributed to the death of about two-thirds of Morocco’s 14 million date palms over the past century," the American daily specifies. Faced with this gloomy picture, environmental advocates have launched initiatives to restore palm groves and improve the use of available water. For example, in the town of Skoura, beekeepers are working to protect the endangered yellow bee, which is vital to the unique biodiversity of the region.