Forest Management in the face of Poverty and Rural Development Challenges: Study case of the Central Plateau Region, Morocco

Sarhad Journal of AgricultureFurthermore, forests and their associated ecosystems provide a range of ecosystem services that can be converted into economic benefits ( Johnson et al., 2021).In Morocco, approximately 7 million people live on or depend directly on forest resources for Abstract | Financial crises, wars, global warming and under development infrastructure all these have contributed to ecological vulnerability and resource depletion in rural regions over recent years in the central plateau region of Morocco.This caused to a marked decline in agricultural food productivity in the areas.The region in question is characterized by a varied topography, comprising plateaus and levels situated at different altitudes.To conduct a thorough field study, a preliminary visit was carried out to enables an insight into local realities and to design a contextualized questionnaire tailored to the specific characteristics of the area.This study presents the results of a socio-economic survey conducted in 2022 in the central plateau region of Morocco.The results showed a major difference between the proportion of participants living in a single household and those living in two or more households.A significant difference was also observed between the proportion of participants with access to educational facilities and those without access.In addition, a considerable difference was found between the proportion of participants with access to a health center and those without access.Furthermore, this study reveals that the region's infrastructure remains insufficient to improve the standard of living for its population.For this purpose, forests remain the only viable option for this population to meet their energy needs.Finally, this study proposes some recommendations to be taken into consideration to improve the living conditions of the population and ensure effective management of forest resources in the region.