Natural Resources Management and Community Development United States Peace Corps

It is a joint effort of several non-governmental organizations (the WWF, The Chouala Association of Education and Culture – ACEC, and the local Imin’tlit Association for the Development and Protection of the Environment) as well as Governmental bodies (Moroccan Department of Water and Forests, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Agriculture) and has received funding from the European Union. In addition to other activities, this project has performed research resulting in the creation of three reports (in French): An environmental diagnostic of the Amsittene Forest, a socio-economic diagnostic of Imin’tlit, and a study of the rural tourism potential of the Province of Essaouira1.

The centerpiece of the socioeconomic diagnostic is a survey undertaken in 2000 that questioned 90 families (15% of total) in the Douars of Ait Hmad, Ait Skri, and Ait Slib. This survey is the source of most of the statistics (unless noted otherwise) in this report. These reports, in combination with the application of Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) tools for the past two years, have formed the basis of this report.