Territory and environment, analysis and assessment of the cost of environmental degradation Case of the Moroccan Region Fez-Meknes.

Abstract

Because of the pursuit of economic growth at all costs, the ecosystems on which human life depends are seriously degraded. Environmental degradation can be studied and mitigated in different ways including the economic approach that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Economic instruments are being used for their rapid effect on behaviour change and evaluation procedures have been developed to explicitly consider all the characteristics of environmental goods and services. In Morocco, there is a lack of studies on economic valuation of ecosystem services and different consequences and costs of environmental degradation, especially at a regional level. The goal of our research is to analyse the state of the environment and assess the cost of environmental degradation in the Moroccan Region Fez-Meknes. First, we aim to develop an environmental profile of the region that gives us a clear picture of the different ecosystem services and various forms of degradation Then we will try to estimate the cost of environmental degradation in a specific environmental component (air, water, soil, etc.) Finally, we’ll try to develop an analytical framework in partnership with policy makers and environmental managers to enable them to periodically monitor the state of the environment and recommend that they incorporate these estimates into their development plans. Inevitably, this work may face some challenges and problems: -Lack and/or obsolescence of data -Complexity of certain forms of environmental degradation and difficulty to assess them -Underestimation of some forms of degradation -Reticence of stakeholders and discretion of information providers -Difficulty to adopt a participatory approach during all the phases of the research