After recent snowfalls, the High Atlas mountains are exceptionally beautiful. From my office terrace, I feel that I can almost reach out and touch them over the palm oasis. The Atlas – and the Anti-Atlas mountains and Sahara desert behind them – are home to many Amazight communities, the indigenous peoples of Morocco (who were formerly known as Berbers). GDF’s work in Morocco has focused primarily on wildlife trade – an alluring subject whose importance comes clear whenever you visit any of the local ‘souks’ or marketplaces of Marrakech, where hundreds of species of plants and animals are offered for sale. Much of this biodiversity comes from the High Atlas and other parts of Marrakech’s hinterland, where local harvesters wander the fields and forests in search of wild plants. We are trying to understand how this commerce supports livelihoods, and if it is ecologically sustainable.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Marrakech, Morocco
After recent snowfalls, the High Atlas mountains are exceptionally beautiful. From my office terrace, I feel that I can almost reach out and touch them over the palm oasis. The Atlas – and the Anti-Atlas mountains and Sahara desert behind them – are home to many Amazight communities, the indigenous peoples of Morocco (who were formerly known as Berbers). GDF’s work in Morocco has focused primarily on wildlife trade – an alluring subject whose importance comes clear whenever you visit any of the local ‘souks’ or marketplaces of Marrakech, where hundreds of species of plants and animals are offered for sale. Much of this biodiversity comes from the High Atlas and other parts of Marrakech’s hinterland, where local harvesters wander the fields and forests in search of wild plants. We are trying to understand how this commerce supports livelihoods, and if it is ecologically sustainable.
After recent snowfalls, the High Atlas mountains are exceptionally beautiful. From my office terrace, I feel that I can almost reach out and touch them over the palm oasis. The Atlas – and the Anti-Atlas mountains and Sahara desert behind them – are home to many Amazight communities, the indigenous peoples of Morocco (who were formerly known as Berbers). GDF’s work in Morocco has focused primarily on wildlife trade – an alluring subject whose importance comes clear whenever you visit any of the local ‘souks’ or marketplaces of Marrakech, where hundreds of species of plants and animals are offered for sale. Much of this biodiversity comes from the High Atlas and other parts of Marrakech’s hinterland, where local harvesters wander the fields and forests in search of wild plants. We are trying to understand how this commerce supports livelihoods, and if it is ecologically sustainable.
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