Morocco celebrates national environment day
Morocco, Environment, 5/17/1999

Morocco is celebrating this Monday May 17 the national environment day.

The celebration is meant to foster public awareness to the dangers looming on world environment: the ozone layer depletion, global warming, acute air and sea pollution, nuclear threats and other dangers.

Morocco which extends over nearly 710,000 km and which has a 3,500 km long coast along the Atlantic and the Mediterranean is well aware of the environmental threat and of the need to preserve its ecological system. To this end, it integrated the environment component in its socio-economic development plans.

However, the Moroccan commission in charge of assessing the environmental situation in the kingdom sounds the alarm especially regarding the deterioration, in quality and quantity of water resources, the alarming progression of the desertification phenomenon, soil erosion, proliferation of pollution spots in the country and the deterioration of the population's living conditions.

The commission also deplores the weakness of coordination mechanisms and juridical implements, and the poor educational and sensitization campaigns. It says that the ecological deficits have an economic and social impact that is assessed at a loss of 20 billion dirhams, ($ 2.08 million) i.e 8.1 of the Gross Domestic Product, MAP reported.

President of the Moroccan association of environment protection, Abdelhadi Bennis, told MAP that the ecological situation in Morocco is increasingly deteriorating and that this deterioration nears 10 % of the GDP at a time the budget allotted to environment protection is below 1 % of the national investment budget.

He noted that the environment issue is not the exclusive prerogative of one single department. It is a matter that should concern and mobilize all ministerial departments, both the public and private sectors, local associations and the civil society at large, he said.

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