Improve Rural Moroccan Schools: Sami's Project

Within the framework of a Small Grants' project that the High Atlas Foundation administers in collaboration with the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), the U.S Department of State  (DOS),  to promote public participation in environmental decision-making, resulting in increased environmental protection and enforcement of  environmental laws, 4 sub-grantees from Morocco and Jordan were selected through a call for applications from different associations

The goal of this project is to increase civil society engagement in environmental protection and promote public participation in environmental decision-making, resulting in increased environmental protection and enforcement of environmental laws.

The program promotes public awareness of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Environment Chapters and national environmental laws. The United States-Jordan FTA and the United States-Morocco both stand as commitments by all three countries to promote environmental protection. The small grants program and the Environment Chapter both emphasize public participation—affording people the opportunity to learn about as well as contribute to environmental protection initiatives and policies. The Small Grants Program supports these efforts by engaging civil society to improve environmental protection and strengthen environmental laws.

The small grants were awarded for proposals focusing on educational and awareness-raising activities that engage a broad range of stakeholders and promote interactions between local authorities and civil society.

Public Participation in Environmental Protection in Morocco

Among the 4 selected sub-grantees was Alfath Association for Development, a Moroccan CSO practicing in Bouchane and Ait Taleb, two rural villages in the Rhamna Province north of Marrakech. These villages are aware of the waste problems and air pollution they are facing, Together and with the participation of local authorities, schools, and parents of students they decided to develop programs to educate the citizens on how to solve these, and other, environmental issues.

Alfath association and its partners are working together to achieve the project’s objectives including the creation of a fruit tree nursery with a solar irrigation pump in Bouchane. Their goals is to grow over 100,000 olive and other trees, providing the Ait Taleb community solar pumps for two wells to be used for livestock water, and to also enable the reduction of air pollution and the elimination of the need for fuel, in addition to training students and their parents with the hopes of helping to establish a culture of environmental protection.

In cooperation with local authorities, Alfath was able to remove the traditional places locals were throwing waste, and instead take the waste to farmers to use as a fertilizer, improving the cleanliness of the area and helping the farms at the same time. One of the main deliverables of this project is a manual for each village to serve as a reference for measuring the development and the preservation of the environment.

As part of the OES program, HAF directly engaged 1,987 primary school children, 1,878 older youth, and 1,160 farmers in environmental action workshops that build knowledge around effective tree planting, water management, and participatory planning. These events - as part of HAF's Sami's Project - were also an opportunity to plant 15,144 trees as well as 445 medicinal plants with members of schools, cooperatives, and associations in 18 Moroccan provinces.

Despite the current COVID-19 crises in Morocco, Alfath is doing a very important job and will close the project in the next few months, hoping to have new project opportunities for the sustainability of its work and its impact.

Public Participation in Environmental Protection in Jordan

From Jordan, Methods for Irrigation and Agriculture (MIRRA), a Jordanian Non for profit organization was selected for a project entitled ''Realizing Sustainable Agriculture In Azraq.''

Azraq is a small town in the eastern desert of Jordan. It is characterized by depleting groundwater aquifers, limited rainfall, salinization of soil and groundwater, failing agriculture and ecosystems, and communities that struggle to survive and achieve. However, MIRRA, together with their local partner Rural Family Society (RFS), was able to see through these challenges and develop a path into sustainable development that will result in improved environmental conditions, sustainable agricultural practices, and enhanced livelihood of communities.

Thus, MIRRA identified the challenges and designed the solutions to implement through the project for a duration of 18 months.Members of the organization used an ultra-low pressure drip irrigation system in conjunction with magnetic water devices to irrigate fodder crops with saline water. They used this method as a mechanism for improving water management and mitigating the impact of soil and groundwater salinity.

The team utilized saline-tolerant crop species in conjunction with organic fertilizers, which are available locally and at a very low cost. This combination helps to transform ill-agricultural practices in the study area into sustainable agriculture that will result in greater feed production and improved soil conditions in the long run.

To ensure sustainability, equity, and gender balance, the team created two small demonstration farms -- one for a female owner and one for a male owner. They also developed a curriculum which they used throughout the project. Additionally, a team of young professionals was trained and certified to continue and expand the work.

On the 17th of November MIRRA held the closing ceremony of the MIRRA-HAF-RFS project "Realizing Sustainable Agriculture In Azraq" to celebrate the successes of the project. The event showcased the successful outcomes of the project and discussed what will be done in the next phases.

There were more than 30 participants included but not limited to: The MIRRA Team (implementing NGO), HAF team (doner), the RFS team (implementing partner), Ms. Yara (U.S Department of State-Jordan), Dr. Mohammad (Al-Balqa University), MIRRA’s interns from the Water Innovation Technology (WIT) project, MIRRA’s interns from the Hussain Technical University (HTU) Sahara program, the Azraq youth team, as well as direct and indirect beneficiary farmers.

The ceremony's final remarks were delivered by Dr. Yossef, President of the High Atlas Foundation: “Not giving up, know each other, share success stories and keep trying.”

During the last week of September, the Earth Day organization held a webinar entitled “Igniting Climate Literacy: Creating a Citizenry Ready and Willing to Act Now and Build a Sustainable Economic Future” to celebrate the 50th annual Earth Day. Organizers of the event gathered notable panelists from around the world to lead discussions about the importance of educating the youth on climate change and other environmental topics. By encouraging these conversations they aim to ensure a citizenry that is equipped with hope, skills, and motivation to take action for a more sustainable future.

Organizers of the webinar set out to help participants have a broader perspective on climate change. As well as highlighting the importance of educating youth, discussions throughout the webinar related to the connections of climate and environmental education to conservation goals, increased green jobs, a healthy economic future, and a sustainable planet.

The participants initiated the dialogue insisting youth must be provided the right education about climate change because they are the leaders of the future. However, they urged the national governments to build a strategy to integrate climate education into the educational systems around the world. Senior Director WWF Pakistan Rab, “Amazing people doing amazing work is not enough.”

One participant in the webinar, Rohan, is a Youth Climate & Environmental Health Activist. Along with his organization, he is translating climate information into different languages to provide access to non-English speakers. They believe this is a necessary step to start engaging youth around the world and encourage them to participate in their local communities’ environmental initiatives.

Frida, another participant, is a Swedish climate change communications expert, activist, and writer. Eklund agreed with Rohan, adding that parents must be engaged and encouraged to manifest climate change in their own lives, too, since they are role models for their children. As children are influenced by their parents’ actions and not their words, Eklund invites parents to participate in environmental activities with their children and discuss simple solutions that they can apply as young citizens. She also stated that 7 out of 10 children are aware of climate change and they are not optimistic about the future of the planet. This is why engaging youth will help them make their voices heard.

Neeshad, Executive Director of Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar, suggested that it is imperative to bring people toward environmental initiatives by working with governments, schools, and youth-led organizations to provide training that will increase the level of climate literacy and promote concrete actions that can result in more media coverage. Shafi argues that this is an important step in raising awareness. Doing so targets large audiences who consume media, giving an amplified voice to the cause.

Asha is the principal and CEO of The Kindergarten Starters and Executive Leader, Climate Change – GEMS Education, Dubai, UAE. Alexander agreed about the importance of including climate education in schools, citing her group of schools as an example, where they have already integrated this type of training into their curriculum. As the CEO of the school group, she made sure that the climate literacy program and climate change teachers exist in all of the 500 schools around the Middle East. She also expressed that these programs engage the parents, too. They participate in different environmental activities, resulting in more environmental discussions not only during the training but also inside the family’s house.

Jessica from the Ministry of Environment of Peru argued that climate education is still missing because climate change is considered a political issue rather than a global issue that impacts everyone. Even in universities, she asserted, climate discussion is still completely scientific with no humanitarian links. As a result, these discussions only provide general and superficial information that is not enough to trigger the youth to manifest against climate change. Huertas said that “even in universities with great resources, the discussion is not taken seriously. I can only imagine the situation in humble universities with limited resources.”

HAF’s role in the environmental revolution

As the discussion of climate change is becoming more necessary, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) continues to work with youth, farmers, families, associations, and schools in Morocco to create environmental initiatives using the participatory approach. HAF has already conducted numerous workshops in communities around Morocco, including rural areas, to raise awareness and provide all the necessary information about climate change and its impacts on the lives of people.

HAF has also contributed to many projects that aim to fight climate change, such as planting around the kingdom each year. To date, HAF has planted over 4.5 million trees. The foundation also encourages citizens to contribute to this planting process by providing trees through their E-store, which makes it easier for everyone to buy and plant trees.

As the webinar came to an end, the panelists stated that the next Convention on Climate Change will be critical as people are expecting concrete actions and not only words. This upcoming, crucial meeting will be expected to increase the countries’ ambitions and commitment toward climate change while also creating a communication space between citizens, organizations, and governments.