Grazing land
Drivers of LEDD in grazing land: Timahdit
Author: Ahmed El AichEditor's note 14Jun2012: Text source D211, section 3.2.3
Table 1 below lists the key direct and indirect drivers of LEDD issues which occur in the Middle Atlas region and Timahdit study site within Morocco.
Table 1. Direct and indirect drivers of LEDD in the Middle Atlas and Timahdit Region of Morocco
| Type of Driver | Examples |
| Direct drivers of LEDD |
|
| Changes in local land use | Break down in transhumance, reduction in the area available for grazing, overgrazing of remaining pastures, intensification of agriculture |
| Change in animal production system | Rise of commercially attractive breeds, fattening lambs, diminution of the contribution of range resources to sheep diets, introduction of externally sourced feed |
| Technology adaptation and use | Mechanisation (use of tractors and tracks to carry water and feed stuff). Feed and water now come to the animals rather than the other way around, as it used to be. |
| Harvest and resource consumption | Increasing or changing global food demand |
| Droughts | Strategies to adapt to droughts |
| Other natural, physical and biological drivers | Loss of knowledge of managing range resources, the role of the jmaa (council of the ethnical group) is decreasing, farmers act as individuals rather than groups |
| Labour | Difficulties in finding herders |
| Switch to more agriculture | Areas devoted to agriculture are increasing and changing to crops of higher added value |
| Indirect drivers of LEDD | |
| Demographics | Changes in population structure and spatial distribution, diminution in the size of households |
| Economic | The number of small producers is decreasing, increase in the numbers of contracts for animals between producers from the tribe and other livestock investors |
| Socio-political | Dominance of large producers who seek political power and influence, conflict between generations (young and elders) |
| Cultural and religious | Change in the standard of life, young people do not want to herd animals and prefer to emigrate to cities |
Source: (Adapted from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2003)
The area of the Ait Arfa du Guigou devoted to agriculture has increased as a result of suitable environmental conditions for the production of crops such as potatoes, onion, and horticulture (apples and cherries). Agricultural expansion has also led to a break down in the pattern of transhumance, and has obliged herdsmen to settle in the summer rangelands. Surveys were used to assess the history of the settlement of herdsmen on Ait Beni Yacoub rangelands. The results indicated that settling started early in the century, but it was during the period 1960-1970 that the first selection of land for settlement was observed. Even though settlements on rangelands were forbidden by law, to conserve natural resources, herdsmen have increasingly continued to construct camps on rangelands over the past 30 years. The settlement of herders has had a negative impact on rangeland resources, as it has lengthened the grazing season and increased grazing pressure. Grazing pressure reported for these rangelands varies between 1.6 and 6.3 ewes per hectare depending on the grazing location (Laroussi 2000). The consequences of these changes are (Belkhou and Azzouzi 2002)
- Fragmentation in the vegetation cover of rangelands
- A significant increase in bare soil and an associated increase in erosion
- An increase in invader species such as Euphorbia nicacensis
- An increase in annuals species abundance
- A decrease in perennial species
- Degradation of Genista pseudopilosa mattoral
- A decrease in the vigour of low shrubs, especially Genista Pseudopilosa.
Genista pseudopilosa is shrub of 20 to 50 cm high that plays a major role in the preservation of rangelands since it acts as facilitator for other perennial grass species, which grow and drop seeds within it.