Essaouira – Universal by nature, the Argane tree has seen the dynamics and the profound legitimacy of all its virtues bolstered by the International Day which is now celebrated every year on May 10 by the United Nations, declared, on Monday, André Azoulay, Advisor to HM the King and President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for Argane Tree Research and Preservation (FMVI.RSA).

Speaking at the opening of a virtual conference, organized by the FMVI.RSA for the celebration of this event, the Advisor of HM the King underlined the unprecedented nature of the historical threshold that Morocco had just crossed through this International Day. The event recognizes the constancy and rigor of the country’s commitments to safeguard, enhance and promote the biosphere and ecosystem of the Moroccan Argane grove, he said.

This recognition is the result of the collective mobilization of all, Ministries, Institutions and Civil Society, said Azoulay, stressing that from Rabat to New York and from Essaouira to Agadir, the long chain of decision-makers, researchers and friends of the Argane tree made it possible to share with as many people as possible the potentials, assets and obligations that “this momentum and this international recognition dictate”.

In this perspective, the Advisor to HM the King recalled that 17 years ago, on May 9, 2004, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Argane Tree Research and Preservation was created in Essaouira to study, research and serve as a meeting point for those keen to support this momentum by a pedagogy of resource preservation, the regulation of its flows and respect for the ecological, biological and human imperatives of the Argane grove universe.

Highlighting the decisive stages that have marked this journey with in particular the creation and implementation of the Protected Geographical Indication (2004-2009), a first in the African continent followed by inclusion in the UNESCO prestigious list of the Universal Intangible Cultural Heritage of “Know-how related to the Argane grove”, the Advisor of HM the King concluded by reaffirming that “these achievements, like the first edition of the International Day which we are celebrating today, must also be read and understood as a contract of reciprocal obligations and responsibilities for all the players in this sector and all the institutions which oversee and supervise it”.