Impacts of global change in Southern Morocco

Abstract

Coping with the impacts of Global Change is a major challenge for the vulnerable semi-arid to arid Drâa catchment, as well as for Southern Morocco as a whole, because of its already dry conditions and limited water availability. People rely on water not only for drinking, but also to secure their livelihood by irrigation for subsistence or cash crop farming, live stock production, small enterprises, and tourism. Other environmental issues pertinent to the area include land degradation by overgrazing, soil and water salinization due to intensive irrigation agriculture and depletion of the groundwater reservoirs by overuse of groundwater for irrigation purposes. This chapter highlights examples of the ways in which Global Change may affect the future of the Drâa catchment. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.