Du technique au politique et retour : État des lieux et enjeux dans la gestion des forêts au Maroc. Introduction au dossier

This article questions the prevailing discourse whereby poverty in rural areas is purported to be the main obstacle to forest management in Morocco, leaving aside social and political aspects. For that purpose, it analyses the feedback loops between political goals and the technical dimension of management of these forests. Based on a retrospective analysis, the authors support the idea that the political and technical dimensions of forest management, which were initially designed on a concerted basis, have gradually lost touch. Hence, while by applying the technical model that posits that any human presence in forests presents problems, a number of specific economic and political goals were met, in parallel this had major impact on the relationship between the central authority and rural populations who have practically never been consulted. As a result, to all intents and purposes, the deployment a very particular technical approach appears as an end in itself, and neither the economic and political expectations – in respect of forests – that were the foundation for adopting it, nor the way in which those expectations have evolved seem to be called into question today. To end, the authors plead in favour of opening up the debate to all the players in any way concerned by forested territories so as to achieve two things. On the one hand, explore other technical pathways for forests that endeavour to reconcile more forest uses. And on the other, better identify the players who, together with the forestry administration, are concerned with maintaining the ecological qualities of forests and might offer support in attempting to structure more strongly committed social involvement around these issues