Framework Agreement to Mitigate Impact of Forest Fires Worth MAD 290 Mln

Rabat – Pursuant to the High Royal Directives, the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch chaired, Friday in Rabat, the signing ceremony of a framework agreement for the implementation of a series of urgent measures to mitigate the impact of recent fires on agricultural activity and forests, and to provide support to affected local populations, at a cost of 290 million dirhams.

This framework agreement was signed by Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of National Planning, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy, Fatim Ezzahra El Mansouri, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Mohammed Sadiki, Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Labor and Skills Younes Sekkouri, the wali of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region Mohamed Mhidiya, the wali of the Fez-Meknes Region, Said Zniber, president of the Council of the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region, Omar Mourou, and president of the Council of the Fez-Meknes Region Abdelouhed Al Ansari, said a statement by the department of the head of government.

This agreement, which aims to mitigate the impact of the fires that broke out in July 2022 on the population, includes the taking of various measures in the short and medium term to support the population for the rehabilitation of homes affected that have been identified by public authorities, to launch reforestation operations on some 9.330 hectares and rehabilitate fruit trees affected, strengthen the means of prevention and control of new fires and mitigate the impact on livestock farmers and beekeepers in affected areas, while continuing the implementation of integrated economic development projects in affected areas.

The agreement also covers the creation of 1,000 additional job opportunities in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region, dedicated to affected people and members of their families.

Quoted in the statement, the Head of Government, said that the intervention teams under the Royal Armed Forces, the Royal Gendarmerie, the Auxiliary Forces, the Civil Protection and the National Agency of Water and Forests, have mobilized, in accordance with the High Royal Instructions, to extinguish the fires, provide support to affected populations and protect their property, praising the total mobilization of all stakeholders to control these fires.

The Head of Government called on all stakeholders to ensure the immediate implementation of the emergency measures adopted to mitigate the impact of fires on agricultural activity and forests and to support the population affected by these disasters occurred during the month of July 2022.