Setting up an environmental NGO in Morocco, mission impossible? – Telquel.ma

Mour long-term objective is to create an association in Morocco which is aimed at Moroccans”, maintains Lamya Essemlali. A long-time activist, the president of Sea Shepherd France has made it her mission to create an association in Morocco, the country where she discovered her love for the ocean. It intends to set a foot in the Kingdom through an action to protect orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar, but the association “would not be limited to the preservation of a particular species, it would have a broader social purpose around the preservation of the ocean”, she explains.

A mission that knows no borders… Lamya Essemlali worked on these subjects in France, “a lot” ; in Spain, “A little” ; but never in Morocco, “and I’ve wanted to do it for a long time”, she explains. “It’s interesting to see how each country handles this issue”enthuses the environmental activist.

In Morocco, she wishes to speak directly to civil society actors on the ground, “because many things come from awareness and the connection that can be created between people and the sea”, she assures. The objective is to “ensure that Moroccans realize how lucky they are to have such a large coastline, and that they commit to preserving it”, says Lamya Essemlali.

Furthermore, through its presence in the field, it wishes to be able to speak to public authorities, NGOs, fishermen and scientists. “We all have different and complementary expertise, and this allows us to put in place effective, sustainable, socially just and ecologically effective roadmaps.”, she explains, aware that it is a “real challenge”.

An “algae and microscope” workshop under close surveillance

But a challenge of what magnitude? This is the question that AsIs asked Hicham Masski, ecologist and founding member in 2002 of an association, Okéanos, which shares the ambitions of Lamya Essemlali.

One thing is certain for this believer in citizen action, it is that the associative approach “can be a saving element for Moroccan society”. More “succeeding in working selflessly in Morocco is very complicated”, he warns. For 20 years he has been working to raise awareness among young Moroccans about the richness of marine biodiversity on beaches or in schools, Hicham Masski knows how much “associative action suffers from bureaucracy”.