Still considered to be a country whose nature is attractive and varied, Morocco, which harbors a great deal of biological diversity, has since the 1930s developed legislation on national parks, thus improving its legal arsenal relating to the conservation and exploitation of forests. He was also at the forefront by creating Toubkal and Tazekka national parks in 1942 and 1950 respectively in 1942 and 1950, and by applying legislative and regulatory provisions on hunting and fishing in continental waters. However, with economic and social development, the regression of forest areas, wetlands, natural ecosystems in general and the rapid extinction of many species of fauna and flora, our biological heritage is increasingly threatened. It is therefore necessary to preserve representative samples that are likely to perpetuate this biodiversity for present and future generations. However, it would be illusory to consider such an objective without the association of rural populations concerned in their daily way of life by the use of natural resources. It is precisely to reconcile the in-situ conservation of biodiversity with the rational use of natural resources that the Department of Water and Forests has developed a national study for “the definition of a network of protected areas and the development of plans for the development and management of Morocco's national parks”. All the various natural environments constituting the great diversity of Moroccan heritage have been taken into account within the SIBE network, and the most beautiful and most dynamic of these constitute the very framework of the priority system. Thanks to this diversity, the Moroccan network of Protected Areas as proposed by the study reaches a very exceptional level of quality. At the ecosystem level, all types of Moroccan natural ecosystems (39) are retained in this network and 85% of them are represented in National and Natural Parks.

• The 30 ecosystems selected as priorities are represented by 73.6% of the general SIBE network and 71% of the national and natural parks;
• The 12 most degraded ecosystems in Morocco are among 24.5% of the SIBEs in the general network and 17% of national and natural parks;
• The first 18 Moroccan ecosystems selected as offering the highest quality (including socio-economic quality) are covered by nearly 50% of the general SIBE network and 46% of that of national and natural parks.

In order to develop a strategy for Morocco's national network of protected areas, three priority levels have been defined. Their discrimination is based on the time frames considered to be maximum to implement the protection status and management methods, before the degradation thresholds are too high, and therefore compromise the conservation of the site.

• Priority 1: the SIBE must be quickly placed under a protected status no later than 5 years. The priority 1 SIBEs constitute a total of 51 special “park” and “reserve” units created or to be created.
• Priority 2: the SIBE must benefit from a protected status no later than eight years. Priority 2 SIBEs constitute a total of 44 special units created or to be created.
• Priority 3: the SIBE should benefit from a long-term protection status, which may take place after a term of six years, if the conjunction does not allow it to be classified instead. The priority 3 SIBEs constitute a total of 59 special units to be created or to be created.

As for the management of these protected areas, various types have been adopted, including:

National and Natural Parks

The Management mode is based primarily on three main axes:

• A clear definition of the objectives of protecting the conservation of the bio-ecological qualities of environments.
• The establishment of a planning and management system based on the zoning system by objective.
• The creation of partnership relationships, more or less contractual, with users and operators.

Nature reserve

The management system is less important than for a national park, but falls under the same rules, with the alternative being greater involvement of the imperatives of protecting the environment. In some cases an internal zone is delimited as an almost integral protection zone. The management of this type of SIBE should be established according to the degree of local activity carried out against natural resources, seeking to rationalize it through practices already tested in the context of Parks (special and temporal defense, definition of quotas, definition of quotas, organization of users, ecotourism promotion).

Global objectives of the strategy Aspects relating to the protection and heritage management of natural environments can be linked to several general objectives concerning Morocco and even the planet if we refer to global ecological systems and to the latest international decisions, including:

• Assume international responsibility for maintaining global biodiversity.
• Guarantee the proper functioning of the general ecological water cycle for the whole country.
• Maintain the productivity of the main Ecosystems.
• The establishment of a reserve park network is one of the useful responses that can satisfy the global objectives mentioned above.

Sectoral objectives:

• Ensure urgent protection of the most degraded ecosystems.
• Establish monitoring and conservative management of the most important Ecosystems for Morocco.
• Slow down and stabilize degradation processes in mountain forest sites, wetlands and coastal areas.
• Organize the preservation of phylogenetic heritage at the national level.
• Effectively combat the disposition of wildlife resources, in particular for large mammals and birds of prey.
• Implement genuine heritage management of natural resources at appropriate sites as defined by the national and natural park management plans in the study.
• Guarantee solid training in ecology and management of protected areas, technical agents and engineers falling under this assignment.
• Mobilize technical agents responsible for administrations concerned with the environment, local elected officials and authorities, representatives and users, on the need to rationally manage Morocco's natural heritage.
• Support the national educational effort not to raise awareness of nature conservation issues.
• Support private and associative initiatives related to the protection of nature.