Lead Institutions

Global Diversity Foundation (GDF). www.global-diversity.org

Global Diversity Foundation believes that our future depends on our respectful engagement with the vast biological and cultural diversity of Earth. We work to protect this diversity and enhance socioecological wellbeing. We carry out collaborative biocultural projects that build resilience, foster innovation and promote learning. Our work contributes to the growing global transition towards justice, respect and dignity for all beings. Since 2002, GDF has implemented a regional programme in the Mediterranean that is currently focused on Morocco.

Moroccan Biodiversity and Liveliation (MBLA). www.associationmbla.org

MBLA is a Moroccan non-profit organisation created by emerging Moroccan professionals and academics who work at the cross-roads between biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods. It maintains a close working relationship with young researchers and postgraduate students - and their supervisors - who focus on plant diversity, biodiversity conservation and livelihoods. MBLA coordinates a network, which comprises representatives of diverse research centres throughout Morocco, including University of Tetouan, Institut National des Plantes Aromatiques et Medicinales de Taounate, Institut Scientifique de Rabat, Institut Agronomique et Veterinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Universite Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech. It leads interaction with small and medium sized enterprises and non-profit organizations (Atlas Inclusive Partners, Casa Botanica, High Atlas Foundation, Jardin Majorelle, Nectarome, Terre d'eveil) that seek to add value and improve marketing and distribution of plant products. In addition, MBLA is the liaison with collaborating government agencies (Department of Environment, Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment; Division of Parks and Natural Reserves, High Commission of Water and Forests).

Partners

The Scientific Institute Rabat. www.israbat.ac.ma

The Scientific Institute Rabat carries out basic research in the natural sciences, focusing in particular on flora, fauna and soil. It is responsible for creating a systematic register of Morocco's natural resources, developing the Natural History Museum collections, constituting a scientific library and maintaining research laboratories, observatories, buildings and stations. The IS's Department for Botany and Plant Ecology (DBPE) is responsible for the internationally-recognised National Herbarium and hosts the dynamic "Moroccan Flora" research team.

Regional Herbarium MARK, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech. www.uca.ma

The Regional Herbarium (MARK) of Marrakech's Cadi Ayyad University, working in collaboration with national and international herbaria and botanic gardens, houses an important collection of over 15,000 plants from the Marrakech, Western High Atlas and southern Morocco regions. MARK team contributes to the ecological monitoring of targeted plant populations as well as floristic surveys in cultivated terraces, community conserved areas, forest domains and protected areas.

The Moroccan High Commission of Water and Forests (HCWF). www.eauxetforets.gov.ma

The Moroccan High Commission of Water and Forests (HCWF) is responsible for establishing and implementing national policy related to the conservation, sustainable management and ecological function and connectivity of forests, grasslands, waters and protected areas. The HCWF is a key project partner given our focus of lands and resources held within protected areas, forest domains and agdals (community conserved areas), because of its support for shifts in national policy on plant conservation and protected areas.

Department of Environment, Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment. www.environnement.gov.ma

Morocco's Department of Environment (DE) is the main state agency responsible for implementing national policy on the environment and sustainable development. It was primarily responsible for the drafting of the 2004 National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), and it is currently setting priorities according to the CBD's Aichi Targets and Objectives.