COMMUNITY PLANT NURSERY
Oukaïmeden’s Community Plant Nursery was established in 2019 in the village of Ait Lkak, in response to a decline in wild plant populations due to climate change, overharvesting, overgrazing, and other environmental threats. The Oukaïmeden plant nursery supports the cultivation and enrichment planting of locally selected endemic, useful and threatened tree crops and plants to boost wild populations and reduce harvesting pressure on these species.
Meet Rachid: The Green Guardian of Ait L'kak village
The nursery is currently managed by Rachid, a local community member, who is cultivating 32 endemic, endangered and valuable plant species including Origanum majorana L. and Lavandula dentata L.
Local community members selected which plants to cultivate at the nursery, through workshops at the start of the project. Visitors are welcome year round to enjoy a nice herbal tea while discovering local plants and soaking up the scent of aromatic herbs.
Aloysia citrodora
Lavandula dentata
Thymus saturejoides
COMMUNITY BENEFITS & ENGAGEMENT
The community benefits from the plant nursery through annual plant distributions, during which they can select plants and trees - often of commercial value - which support local incomes. Community members also plant a part of the distributed plants in designated areas and reintroduce certain species back to the wild. The plant distributions help to maintain the unique flora and ecosystem of Oukaimeden while decreasing harvesting pressure on wild populations, which the community often heavily depend on for their livelihoods.
The Community Plant Nursery is an initiative part of the High Atlas Cultural Landscapes Programme, implemented by Moroccan Biodiversity Livelihoods Association and Global Diversity Foundation.
