Infodoc : Sciences, Techniques et Culture

At the turn of the millennium, the idea that the Moroccan forestry administration’s modes of action were changing was much publicised. There were claims that “concerted forest management” would alter the historically conflictual relationships between foresters and farmers and in this way the ecological status of forests would be improved. However, the innovations proposed and implemented through pilot projects funded by public aid to development took place in a legislative framework that was largely inherited from the French protectorate. Looking at Moroccan forestry legislation retrospectively, this articles shows that a doctrine in forest management imported from the Nancy School of Forestry continues to be the cornerstone for current practices that are the source of social problems[...]

At the turn of the millennium, the idea that the Moroccan forestry administration’s modes of action were changing was much publicised. There were claims that “concerted forest management” would alter the historically conflictual relationships between foresters and farmers and in this way the ecological status of forests would be improved. However, the innovations proposed and implemented through pilot projects funded by public aid to development took place in a legislative framework that was largely inherited from the French protectorate. Looking at Moroccan forestry legislation retrospectively, this articles shows that a doctrine in forest management imported from the Nancy School of Forestry continues to be the cornerstone for current practices that are the source of social problems targeted by the very innovations mentioned above; and that these problems had already, at the time of the protectorate, caused serious conflict between the forestry administration and the indigenous affairs department, with the latter urging the forestry administration to recognise rural populations as partners in the framework of provisions that might easily be mistaken for those considered today to be innovations.
Au tournant des années 2000, l’idée que les modes d’action de l’administration forestière marocaine étaient en train de changer a été largement véhiculée. Le développement d’une « gestion forestière concertée » devait permettre de renouveler les rapports entre forestiers et paysans, historiquement conflictuels, et par là d’améliorer l’état écologique des massifs. Les innovations proposées, opérationnalisées à travers des projets pilotes financés par l’aide publique au développement, ont cependant pris place dans un cadre législatif largement hérité du protectorat français. À partir d’un retour rétrospectif sur la législation forestière marocaine, le présent article montre que l’importation au Maroc d’une doctrine de gestion forestière développée à l’école forestière de Nancy forme toujours la clé de voûte des modes d’interventions actuels, source des problèmes sociaux que visent à régler les innovations susdites ; et que ces problèmes avaient déjà, sous le protectorat, provoqué d’importants conflits entre l’administration forestière et les services des affaires indigènes, ces derniers exhortant l’administration forestière à reconnaître les populations rurales comme des partenaires, dans le cadre de dispositifs ressemblant à s’y méprendre à ceux considérés aujourd’hui comme des innovations.