Search

The Senegal River Valley has been the scene of major developments since colonial times, revealing the political, economic and strategic stakes of the river. Using specific examples of oral poetry in the Fulani language, we want to show that they testify, through their form as much as their content, to a strong attachment to a territory, to practices and uses of the land bordering the river, to sociabilities and power relationships -in short, to modes of relationships to river landscapes and resource management- mostly not taken into account in the policies of territorial planning concerning this region. The watershed-scale design, conveyed by this poetry, has given way to a technical approach driven by valley developments since the 20th century. The observation is that this passage constitutes a rupture of an "ecological continuity" between wâlo and diêri, understood as the weaving that the hydrological network allows of a myriad of ponds between them and which, in itself, acts as a living entity.

This article proposes a quantitative method for the identification and assessment of geological and geomorphological sites in the Tagleft syncline. This method proposes new criteria of evaluation relatively in conformity with the characteristics of the Moroccan mountain by making reference to the various methods which were already carried out in the European countries. The objective is thus to reduce the subjectivity of the evaluator, to clarify deeply the criteria composing the assessment values (scientific value, additional values and use value). This method is finally applied on the geological and geomorphological sites of the syncline of Tagleft, Atlas of Beni Mellal, Morocco.

Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains is a traditional Chinese landscape painting by Huang Gongwang (1269-1354) that depicts the landscapes on both banks of the Fuchun River, one of the ten most famous landscapes in China. An examination of the work and of its philosophical message provides insight into its standing as a major work of Chinese art and the reasons why it has served as inspiration for countless urban and rural development projects in the area it depicts, as well as in other areas in China. The Fuchun River and its surrounding mountains, painted by Huang Gongwang over 670 years ago, is situated in the middle section of the Qiantang River, a cradle of Chinese civilisation and an area with several UNESCO World Heritage Sites recognised for their living cultural landscapes. This is a picturesque river made famous in China by the many paintings and major literary works in praise of it. This very rich cultural and historical landscape heritage which has been recognised for centuries is currently subjected to major transformations (urbanisation, agricultural development and the installation of dykes). This study focusing on several projects seeks to understand how current landscape developments are contributing to restoring harmony between inhabitants and nature by drawing inspiration from the harmony represented in Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.

This study of the urban vegetation of Toliara, city located in a semi-arid area in the Southwest of Madagascar, helps understand specific vegetation issues by exploring its typology and various functions, as well as its changes since the French colonial period. It also helps define those issues that are specific to a Southern city, first in a colonial context, then in a non-colonial one. The methodology is based on an in-situ field analysis (2016) combined with aerial (1949) and satellite remote sensing (2015).

The use of vegetation is one of the effective methods to combat the increasing Urban Heat Island (UHI). However, vegetation is steadily decreasing due to urban pressure and increased water stress. This study used air temperature measurements, humidity and an innovative advanced earth system analysis to investigate, at daytime, the relationship between green surfaces, built-up areas and the surface urban heat island (SUHI) in Marrakesh, Morocco, which is one of the busiest cities in Africa and serves as a major economic centre and tourist destination. While it is accepted that UHI variation is generally mitigated by the spatial distribution of green spaces and built-up areas, this study shows that bare areas also play a key role in this relationship. The results show a maximum mean land surface temperature difference of 3.98 °C across the different city neighbourhoods, and bare ground had the highest correlation with temperature (r = 0.86). The correlation between the vegetation index and SUHI is decreasing over time, mainly because of the significant changes in the region’s urban planning policy and urban growth. The study represents a relevant overview of the factors impacting SUHI, and it brings a new perspective to what is known so far in the literature, especially in arid climate areas, which have the specificity of large bare areas playing a major role in SUHI mitigation. This research highlights this complex relationship for future sustainable development, especially with the challenges of global warming becoming increasingly critical.

The Moroccan Central High Atlas in the Beni Mellal - Khenifra region (Azilal Province) is characterized by highly anthropized landscapes as in all the medium mountain regions of Morocco. These are tree parks built by the rural Amazigh population in a context of rainfed food agriculture (bour), associated with extensive livestock farming, mainly sheep and goats. The very open landscapes are dominated by pre-forest formations of trees outside the forest (dominant holm oaks) selected in the fields. Dendrochronological analyses on holm oaks in the municipality of Agoudi N'Lkhir show that a large number of them are 200 to 300 years old and their regular treatment by long rotation (secular) grape varieties raises the structure of the tree park to at least 500 to 600 years. Despite this ancient historical foundation, these highly anthropized formations are often approached in terms of degradation, as are morphogenic processes, which are locally marked by strong erosion. However, field observations and diachronic analyses based on satellite images and aerial photographs show that these tree-lined parks, far from being relics of past landscapes, are still perennial and maintained by rural populations, as they continue to offer multiple vital functions and retain an important social role in these harsh and isolated mountainous contexts of the Moroccan Central High Atlas.

The Moroccan Central High Atlas in the Beni Mellal - Khenifra region (Azilal Province) is characterized by highly anthropized landscapes as in all the medium mountain regions of Morocco. These are tree parks built by the rural Amazigh population in a context of rainfed food agriculture (bour), associated with extensive livestock farming, mainly sheep and goats. The very open landscapes are dominated by pre-forest formations of trees outside the forest (dominant holm oaks) selected in the fields. Dendrochronological analyses on holm oaks in the municipality of Agoudi N'Lkhir show that a large number of them are 200 to 300 years old and their regular treatment by long rotation (secular) grape varieties raises the structure of the tree park to at least 500 to 600 years. Despite this ancient historical foundation, these highly anthropized formations are often approached in terms of degradation, as are morphogenic processes, which are locally marked by strong erosion. However, field observations and diachronic analyses based on satellite images and aerial photographs show that these tree-lined parks, far from being relics of past landscapes, are still perennial and maintained by rural populations, as they continue to offer multiple vital functions and retain an important social role in these harsh and isolated mountainous contexts of the Moroccan Central High Atlas.

Marrakesh was developed based on the classic model of the garden-city imbedded in an oasis. In the iconography and descriptions of writers and travellers, Marrakesh is indissociable from its palm groves and plants which confer a strong identity to a landscape the city has promoted for tourism. This image has increasingly become disconnected from reality, the garden-city and oasis image is fading away in the face of the extension and densification of the city. The palm groves and rows of trees have been retreating with encroaching urbanisation, golf courses, tourist complexes and villas, ever since the colonial period and increasingly in recent decades. The composition of this plant heritage is a reflection of various cultural influences which have shaped the current identity of the city. The palette of plant species reveals a qualitative change in landscapes correlated to changes in the tastes and choices of a social class and a population which questions this identity, historically based on a balance between plant and mineral elements. Gentrification has led to food production being abandoned to the benefit of recreational and aesthetic landscape functions.

The Moroccan regional planning was often marked by security concerns, based on historic inheritances of conflicting relations between central authority and tribes. This analysis focused on history/space and security has lead to the marginalization of some regions, in particular the mountain considered as "useless" space. Since the creation of a Ministry of regional planning, a new consciousness has appeared. In this context, the development of an atlas of landscapes may constitute an opportunity, the landscape becoming a way to think, in a different way, the everyday life territory. It also may constitute a new tool to assist in the decision-making and the promotion of local potentialities for local and public actors, decision-makers, and to encourage the emergence of a territorial perception and consciousness. This atlas raises numerous linguistic and conceptual questions necessary to define a coherent content in adequacy with the local specificities and culture. Conscious of the limits and gaps, result of the simple transposition of this westerner concept of landscape, we have put in evidence the existence of a landscape culture peculiar to this country with its local and regional specificities.