By Hannah Rickard | Intern for Multicultural Initiatives
Salaam Alaikum (Peace be with you) to all,
On June 11th the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) Director of Agricultural Programs, Larbi Didouqen, Director of Development, Jacqueline Seeley, and the General Manager for HAF’s HA3 initiative, Ignacio Trincado Ruiz, joined high profile members of the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (UNDP GEF SGP) from all over the world for a tour of HAF’s value chain process from Tadmamt to Ijoukak.
Nestled within the High Atlas Mountains, the Tadmamt locality lies within Marrakech’s Tensift-Al Haouz region. In 2015 HAF facilitated the planting of 320,000 seeds and saplings in 8 nurseries and 85 schools within the Tamamt communities. Recently HAF earned the revered visit of the UNDP GEF SGP through these record-breaking success rates during the 2015 planting season, in combination with commitments to sustainability and participatory practices advocated by the UNDP GEF SGP. HAF’s partnership with the UNDP GEF SGP began in 2013, when the program honored HAF with a SEED (Social and Environmental Entrepreneurship) award.
Facilitated by Morocco’s UNDP GEF SGP representative Ms. Badia Sahmy, the tour began with HAF’s environmentally-mindful missions in Tamamt and Asni. Projects in these regions maintain goals such as preventing forest degradation while encouraging forest preservation through the native and environmentally conscious and profitable walnut and almond plants. The HAF team and the UNDP GEF SGP members then traveled to Ijoukak to behold HAF’s initiatives with various cooperatives, such as medicinal plant and women's cooperatives, all of which maintain a careful regard for the environment and natural resources.
The UNDP GEF SGP prides itself on its mission of “thinking globally acting locally.” The program concludes that environmental and community well-being improvement projects are mutually beneficial and that maximum prosperity emerges through effective collaboration between the two.
Our organization is honored to achieve such recognition for its work, and is grateful for the tremendous and continuous help and encouragement from its supporters, both local and global alike. HAF would therefore like to extend a great thank you to all those who have followed us, believed in us, and supported us along the way. Let’s keep up the good work!
Warmest wishes,
The High Atlas Foundation Team
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