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Drought and desertification have a significant impact on socio-ecological systems throughout the world, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. In this context, the impact of desertification and drought was analyzed in the pre-Sahara of Morocco. Additionally, a new conceptual framework combining various variables under the context of drought and desertification impacts was developed. The study area has an arid climate and socio-ecological system-based oases. To achieve the goal of the research, a questionnaire was conceived and distributed to a sample of young people (n = 290 on desertification phenomena and n = 290 on drought). A bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSViewer software to highlight the structure of research and the Likert technique was used as a statistical method to analyze the results. The findings revealed that the respondents reported that drought has a high impact on desertification and sand silting. Otherwise, mental health is highly at risk and drought affects strongly the revenue, yield, and land use. In terms of solutions, the respondents recorded water safe as the appropriate option to adapt to drought in this area. However, in terms of desertification, interviewees thought that temperature and wind have a very high impact on desertification. Roads are the most impacted by sand silting and desertification followed by irrigation canals, and settlements. Concerning the solutions, tourism has a moderate impact on desertification. Young people thereby are aware of the climatic factors and the psycho-socio-economic impacts. They are also able to identify the appropriate solutions to desertification and drought.

Some epidemiological and ecological aspects of Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) in Ouarzazate province, southern Morocco, were explored with the objective of analyzing ZCL distribution and associated ecological factors. Information on cutaneous leishmaniasis patients attending the local health centers of Ouarzazate during the period 2002–2009 was gathered and compiled. Urban, peri-urban, rural origin, precipitation, wind speed, temperature, water irrigation, dam volume, and altitude were studied. The findings show that the disease affected 5405 person during this period; the major part was found in the municipalities near both oases (desert oasis) and water resources, with a high concentration of cases in the peri-urban area. The highest percentage of cases was recorded mainly in September. Considerable associations were found between relative humidity and wind speed with ZCL occurrence. A large number of cases were recorded in areas with altitude ranging from 800 to 2000 m.a.s.l. and spatial precipitation from 15 to 150 mm. The statistical analysis showed a strong association between water storage volume and water irrigation with the annual ZCL occurrence recorded in the downstream area (Zagora province). The results will lead us to understand ZCL risk areas for effective control. Further work is needed mainly for gathering these variables in one single and simplest model.

Water is the main ecosystem service that supports the oasis system. Middle Draa Valley is an oasis zone located in the south of Morocco. The water availability in this area is the key element of vegetation cover change. This change added to other factors can cause some parasitic diseases. The zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of these diseases. In this chapter, an analysis of the interaction between some key risk factors and the disease transmission was carried out. The outputs of this work rivaled that there is a very strong correlation between this disease and ecosystem services such as water stored and the dam outflow (directed to the oasis for the irrigation), and the groundwater availability. Regarding the correlation between this vector-borne disease and the cropping area, a strong correlation was recorded. However, for the relationship between leishmaniasis and the precipitation and the dam inflow, average correlations were found. Basically, in MDV, the water availability is the first element that affects an ensemble of processes that cause the disease infection.

The argan tree is exclusively endemic in the drylands of Southwest Morocco, an agroecosystem of great ecological, cultural, and economic importance. The argan agroecosystem is already damaged. It is particularly vulnerable to climate change as well as the harsh natural conditions aggravated by the current population growth and the exploitation in excess of the production capacities. Unfortunately, during the 20th century, its area has been reduced by half. Current projections indicate an increase in temperature under climate scenarios. Anticipated climate change could accelerate this trend resulting in the argan tree degradation. To assess the climate change impact, the authors used the SDSM model at the argan agroecosystem scale and the thermal stress model to assess its vulnerability and estimate its tolerance response in relation to temperature stress for a projected climate in the near term (2010-2025 years). In this chapter, the authors explored the impact of climate change on the argan tree regeneration.

The floods are among the most dangerous extreme events. They have affected a large part of the world population. Studies on this topic are needed to understand the phenomenon and prevent the damages. In this context, a new composite indicator was proposed and applied in the Moroccan High Atlas, which is the largest mountain in the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries and one of the most affected. Both the altitude that exceeds 4000 m and the annual rainfall of over 400 mm accelerate the severity of the floods. Climate change and anthropogenic actions have increased the vulnerability to flooding. The variables used in measuring the vulnerability to floods are numerous and interact in a very complex way. Five components (anthropogenic, physical, climatic, lithologic, and land use) and 29 indicators have been selected. The analysis of vulnerability allows identifying the zones and the components with a high degree of vulnerability to floods and proposes the options to reduce it in five selected valleys of the High Atlas; Ourica, De R’dat, Rheraya, Oued N’Fis, and Zat Valleys. The findings suggest that Oued N’Fis may be more vulnerable in terms of climatic indicators while Ourica valley may be vulnerable in terms of the physical, anthropogenic, and lithologic components. However, R’dat valley showed a high vulnerability score regarding the land-use indicators. The total score of flood vulnerability indicates that Ourica is the most vulnerable followed, respectively, by R’dat and Oued N’Fis.

The chapter highlights the importance of the concept of “ecological sanitation” (Ecosan) in environmental education. It also describes the implementation and management of the “Ecosan” project in several primary and middle schools and explores the lessons learned from reusing organic waste to promote sustainability in arid communities in the southeastern region of Morocco. The project planned and built Ecosan systems that recycle human wastes in five schools from five oasis villages of the Draa-Tafilalt region. The results suggest that the Ecosan system may be a sustainable option to support water, soil, and biodiversity in the vulnerable arid areas, but the scale-up of the project and adoption by the local communities will require more work and coordination with the government and local stakeholders.

The cultivation of watermelons has been a fast growing agriculture industry in the arid, desert regions of Morocco, relying on groundwater pumping and transformation of rangelands to farms due to growing demand for the fruit in national and international markets. This study aims to measure the impact of watermelon expansion on groundwater resources in the Feija Basin, which is one of the largest watermelon cultivation areas in Southern Morocco. Field measurements, statistics, Kriging interpolation, and regression methods were used to measure the temporal variations in the groundwater level (GL) and salinity between 2013 and 2018 to determine the correlation between different parameters. Remote sensing data was also used to monitor the watermelon cultivation expansion. Results show a rapid expansion of agricultural areas from just 185.11 ha in 2007 to 2560.1 ha in 2018. The groundwater level declined rapidly by about 10 m below ground level during the 5 years of the study period. Additionally, the decline was accompanied by a significant increase in electrical conductivity (salinity) values over the same time interval from 1077.55 to 1211.9 µS/cm. As a consequence of the continuous overexploitation and unsustainable management, a lot of wells have run dry and there have been drinking water shortages in the city of Zagora, the closest city nearby. Results can help target efforts to improve the implementation of conservation strategies to ensure the sustainability of water use and food production in this region of Morocco.

South east of Morocco is one of the biggest cutaneous leishmaniasis disease foci. Despite its non-lethality, this disease causes several socioeconomic and psychological impacts. This disease has lots of risk factors. Some of these are related to the environmental change, and others are linked to the demographic and socio-economical system. The interactions between these risk factors create the need for a multidisciplinary approach to estimate the vulnerability risk to the cutaneous leishmaniasis. In this context, a new index was proposed and six provinces were selected, which are Zagora, Ouarzazate, Tinghir, Errachidia, Figuig, and Tata. The findings depict that in term of anthropogenic vulnerability, Tinghir is the most vulnerable to leishmaniasis followed by Errachidia and Ouarzazate. Geographically, Errachidia has the very high vulnerability score and Figuig have the high vulnerability. The results show also an important risk to leishmaniasis in all provinces regarding the socio-economical component, except for Tata. Regarding services category, Zagora is the most vulnerable. However, for the hygiene, Figuig, Ouarzazate, and Errachidia present the high scores of vulnerability, then the rest provinces. The total score of cutaneous leishmaniasis vulnerability of the selected provinces indicates that Tinghir is the most vulnerable regarding this disease followed respectively by Errachidia, Ouarzazate, Zagora, Figuig, and Tata.

Ecosystem management requires biophysical and socio-economic measurement. The intervention of the government and the local community in order to combat the degradation of ecosystems must take into account the effects of the environmental hazards. This can reinforce the inhabitants' ability to adapt at local level. The impact on ecosystem and resources are numerous and complex. Consequently, a multidisciplinary evaluation is needed. In this context, a new approach was proposed, called environmental hazards assessment at local scale. It was used to evaluate the risk of several oasis resources to multiple hazards in the Middle Draa Valley. The findings show that for all resources, desertification is the biggest challenge affecting this area followed by drought, sandstorms, and then floods. This risk assessment approach can provide guidance for future assessments.

Floods are highly relevant extreme events with increasing frequency at a global scale. They remain among the most dangerous and complex natural disasters in middle and low-income countries. In this context, it is necessary to develop decision-support tools to reduce the flood risk and increase the resilience. The chapter reviews one of the most relevant tools, the flood vulnerability index (FVI) category at a global scale. These tools use hydrological, topographic, socio-economic parameters strongly associated with flood vulnerability. The findings indicate that FVI is a flexible tool for integrated assessment of vulnerability to floods for application in different regions. Social, environmental, and physical components are the main components used in the FVI. Household and neighborhood, basin, urban, sub-catchment, and coastal are the different levels of vulnerability analysis.

The current chapter deals with one of the most neglected tropical diseases in Morocco, the cutaneous leishmaniasis. It is based on 10-year research (2010-2017) on the evolution of leishmaniasis taking climate change into account. Epidemiological and climatological data were collected from different administrations. The Geographic Information System (GIS) is chosen for interpolation, space-time analysis of climate data and map creation. The SPSS software was used for statistical analysis and to establish the relationship between Leishmaniasis and climatic conditions. Results show that the maximum number of cases is recorded in 2010 with 4,407 people affected while the low number is recorded in 2014 with 18 cases. Results also show a clear link between climatic factors and the incidence of the disease. The distribution of the disease in the province is influenced by maximum temperature, aridity, and vegetation cover. Additionally, anthropogenic factors play a significant role in explaining the emergence or re-emergence of leishmaniasis in the region.

In 2009, the Moroccan Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organization confirmed that the transmission of schistosomiasis had ceased in all previously endemic provinces of Morocco. This achievement couldn't have been achieved without the effective participation and engagement of local communities. In this chapter, studies of community participation strategies for schistosomiasis control in Akka oasis were reviewed. Southern Morocco was known to be a foci site for urinary schistosomiasis since 1937. Combined efforts between health officials and local community participation have achieved the elimination of this neglected tropical disease, where the last cases in these foci were recorded in the early 2000s. The results of this chapter can be used to increase awareness of the need for community participation in controlling neglected tropical diseases such as schistosomiasis.

Background Worldwide, the arid regions have been experiencing cyclical droughts and devastation due to land desertification. A multi-criteria approach was proposed to establish the relationship between these pressures and assess their impact on the socio-economical, physical, and biological resources. This method was applied at local scale in the palm grove of Draa valley in southeastern Morocco. This paper aims to assess the socio-ecological impacts of drought and desertification, to develop a set of impact indicators of each phenomenon, and explore the relationship between drought and desertification. A framework of analysis was developed based on data collected from a survey using samples of 580 questionnaires: 290 for desertification and 290 for drought. A Likert scale data analysis was applied and rating scales varies from Low, Middle, High, and Very High impact. Results The results depict that drought is considered a first-rate threat in this region. The findings indicated also a very strong link between drought and desertification. The area is currently suffering from drought followed by desertification and then inundation. Natural and human factors are in the origin of desertification. Conclusions A set of variables and common variables of drought and desertification were proposed to understand their impacts on well-being.

The incidence of emergence diseases including vector borne diseases, water diseases, and some physiologic impairment is considered sensitive to climate. Malaria, leishmaniasis, dengue, and viral encephalitis are among those diseases most influenced by climate. Variation in the incidence of vector borne diseases is associated with extreme weather events and annual changes in weather conditions. Africa in general and Morocco in particular are designated as an area of significant impact by numerous the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and notably susceptible to such drastic climate-related health consequences. Climatic parameter change would directly affect disease transmission by acting on the vector's geographic range, activity, or reproduction and by reduction the period of pathogen incubation. This chapter will discuss the increasing risk of some vector-borne diseases in hazard-prone localities. It further identifies the severe challenges both of health adaptation to climate change by highlighting Moroccan adaptive capacity to such crises.

As in most arid and pre-Saharan North Africa regions, the local population is especially rural, socioeconomically vulnerable, and exposed to vector-borne disease like cutaneous leishmaniasis. Information on geographical and seasonal distribution of this disease can be helpful in the control of this disease. In this context, four sites were used to identify the seasonality of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) in Middle Draa Valley (MDV). The seasonal occurrence of this disease was correlated with some climatic and hydrologic variables. The findings show that the most part of patients (86%) were from rural areas with a bit high rate of affected people is female gender (54%) and children less than 9 years (51%). The distribution of cases shows a prevalence of affected in the upstream area than in downstream where the climate is more and more arid. The highest number of cases were detected in the winter season (from December to March).

Several countries are associated with the long-term ecological research (LTER) program, while others are in the process of joining the network. In Morocco, there is an urgent need to be a member of this network because the diversity of challenges associated with the various ecosystems requires multidisciplinary long-term studies. The chapter discusses this need by assessing the environmental vulnerability of Morocco basing on data from the environmental vulnerability index profile. Ecosystem change and vulnerability were investigated at the sites within the LTER program by exploring the criteria of the selected sites. The driving forces, pressures, states, impacts, responses framework would be a useful approach to study and explain the ecological changes of each selected site. The chapter highlights the purpose, significance, the mission, objectives, and the international cooperation of the proposed LTER network called Mo-LTER.

Water, energy, food and climate are strongly interconnected spheres ranging from ensuring access to resources and services, to environmental and social impacts. Such interwoven concerns become even more relevant in drylands and oasis communities in developing countries where resources are already scarce and people are considered to be among the most endangered by the rising anthropogenic pressure on the environment and threats posed by climate change. Pinpointing these links is extremely relevant since it allows addressing synergies and preventing potential tensions. Using the Draa Valley Region in Morocco as a case study, the paper addresses and maps the interconnectedness between water-food-energy and climate. The findings of this study underline that while (national and regional) top-down policies concerning water-food-energy and climate nexus goal to take control of the related interconnections put at risk the long-term sustainability of the region in the area of water, energy and food; bottom-up and local policies are able to accommodate and respond to change posed by the nexus challenges in the short-term.

Abstract. Moroccan Pre-Saharan zone is an oasis system, which it is characterised by extreme events, like drought and flood. The flood risks will likely increases in frequency and magnitude due to global and regional climate change. Flood tends to have an important impact on isolated and poor regions such as oasis regions. This paper aims the analysis of applicability of Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) in pre-Saharan region of Morocco. The FVI, it is a numerical index that reflects the status of a region's flood vulnerability. It was determined for four components social, economic, physical, and environmental. These components can help to assist to propose strategies for improvement of the holistic system. For this study five sub-catchments were selected: Upper Draa Valley (UDV), Middle Draa Valley (MDV), Tata sub-catchment, Guelmim sub-catchment and Tafilalt sub-catchment; and five urban areas, Ouarzazate, Zagora, Tata, Guelmim and Errachidia. A comparative analysis of the results from thus areas allows us to assess the applicability of the FVI. The overall FVI for these areas was determined by the calculating and standardisation of 36 indicators for each sub-catchment scale and 34 for each urban scale.

The oasean rangelands surrounding and the scattered steppic area, is commonly viewed as degraded landscapes. The dynamics of oasean ecosystems is indeed affected by human and climatic disturbances and stresses which induce desertification processes. In this context, the objectives of this research are to identify and quantify ecosystem services as a tool for measuring changes in arid lands. Monetization has enabled a more complete diagnosis of ecosystems and their ecosystem services. In this paper, we examine the economic value of the regulating and cultural ecosystem services provided by the oases of Middle Draa Valley (MDV), which is part of Biosphere Reserve of southern Moroccan Oasis (UNESCO). The economic values are standardized to US$ per hectare per year (2008-2010 period prices). The total value of regulating services is found to be 2478,9 US$/ha/year for the arable area (26000ha) and 43,14 US$/ha/year for the whole Middle Draa Valley (1500 000ha). The economic value of the cultural services in the arable area is 1776,8 US$/ha/year and 30,83US$/ha/year for the total area.

Changes in the Environmental Vulnerability of Oasean System (desert oasis), Pilot Study in Middle Draa Valley, Morocco In the last thirty years, the oasean system has seen an important environmental disturbance. This change is caused by the human intervention and climate change. An integrated monitoring and a best oasean management require the identification and calculation of the indicators of change. In order to do this, we used the environmental vulnerability index to compare the change between the oasean environmental vulnerability in 2009 and 2014. A comparative analysis can help identify such environmental change. The results show a very small change in this period. The global score of environmental vulnerability was estimated to average 288 in 2009, and the corrected value is 270. However this value becomes 267 in 2014. On the one hand, the results also show an increase in the exposure to natural disasters and in the impact of desertification on land. And on the other hand an increase in damage and a decrease in hazards.

The Middle Draa Valley (MDV) is an oasitic region characterized by an arid climate. The local economy is based on agriculture, and also on tourism. Water scarcity and lack of dense vegetation make it an area vulnerable to climatic change. The environmental vulnerability is accelerated by human pressure and by the high poverty rate that is the highest in the country, thus forcing the population to the overexploitation of this oasitic ecosystem. The purpose of this paper is the realization, of a detailed qualitative analysis based on calculations of a representative number of indicators of environmental vulnerability index (EVI) developed by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and mapping additional factors specific of oasitic system that places an impact environmental vulnerability. The results of this study pave the way to classify this region as a vulnerable area to climate change and anthropogenic impacts.