Abstract
This chapter examines Moroccan agdal, a centuries-old traditional Berber system of environmental management that consists of rules prohibiting access to communal natural resources during a certain period in order to enable their regeneration. It is an ingenious system of agro-pastoral land rotation, closely linked to a complex and evolving cosmology, which represents a set of values for the conservation of the biophysical environment, the performance of the local economy, and the maintenance of the current social cohesion, and cultural continuity. Agdal is inherently Moroccan type of gardening; it has shaped the Moroccan landscape and natural environment for hundreds of years and is also an element of social identity. A survivor of the past, but still adaptable to climatic variations and social changes, agdal continues to resituate and determine nature in the present. Agdal and its cultural heritage is very important for the durability of the current agro-pastoral activity and ecosystems.
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Acknowledgements
Field research was funded by a Marie Curie Grant (MIRG-CT-2006-036532) and Programme AGDAL (“biodiversité et gestion communautaire de l’accès aux ressources sylvopastorales”/Institut Français de la Biodiversité—Institut de Recherche pour le Développement: Financement no. 2886). Theoretical research was also funded by the “Formation à la recherche” scholarship from the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, the “UNESCO” Fellowship Program, the “Becas MAE-AECID” from the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation and Development and the “Becas per estades fora de Catalunya” from the Catalan Agency for Research and Universities. The author would also like to thank all of the local informants who were very patient and cooperative. The revision of the English of this text was funded by the group AHCISP.
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Domínguez, P. (2013). Culturally Mediated Provision of Ecosystem Services: The AGDAL of Yagour . In: Lozny, L. (eds) Continuity and Change in Cultural Adaptation to Mountain Environments. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, vol 7. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5702-2_16
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