Hajiba Boumasmar HAF Tree Monitoring Officer On Monday, 20 January, the High Atlas Foundation commemorated the annual day of tree planting when most of the members of the Foundation came out with Moroccan and foreign volunteers to plant organic trees in the various Moroccan provinces: Al-Haouz, Agadir, Youssoufia, Rabat, and Fez. This day saw the

Sanae Benaadim HAF’s Office Manager Every third Monday of January, HAF takes the initiative of planting trees in different places around Morocco. I heard many positive things about this special day back when I was a volunteer. And I wished to be part of it one day! President Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, USAID Driver Lahcen Ait

By Errachid Montassir Project Manager Every third Monday of January is the High Atlas Foundation’s annual event “Tree Planting Day.” On this date, all staff members and volunteers come together and plant organic fruit trees across nearly a dozen regions in Morocco. My site this year was the Sbaiaat municipality in El youssoufia province, where

By Nic Pantelick HAF Volunteer My Tree Planting Day began with a rain-soaked Marrakech morning. For the first time since I had arrived in Morocco, I felt the chill of winter cutting through me. This biting cold wormed its way past my meager layers and rested an icy hand on the back of my neck.

By Imane Akhezzane HAF Project Manager A l’occasion de la journée nationale de plantation d’arbres qu’organise la fondation du Haut Atlas (HAF) chaque année, j’ai eu la chance de  visiter le lycée d’Asni, le collège, dar Talib, Dar Taliba et Dar Alfatat pour planter 100 arbres amandiers, et grenadiers. Des membres de la direction des

– Let’s make it green on January 20th: High Atlas Foundation will Plant Thousands of Trees, The Policy Times, 18 January 2020. MARRAKECH, Morocco – Jan. 10, 2020 – As the new year begins, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) would like to invite Moroccan communities to aid in the planting of thousands of trees on Monday,

HAF Intern After our team had a traditional breakfast in the town of Asni, we needed to go further into the atlas to help the greenhouse nurseries expand. Our first destination was a nursery in Imigdal. They had one greenhouse and a few terraces. There were approximately 30,000 fruit trees, with a variety of food

Nic Pantelick HAF Volunteer Yesterday, I traded the sprawling city of Marrakech for the rolling foothills and winding roads of the Moroccan countryside. Watching this buzzing metropolis retreat through the back window of the car we rode in, I was filled with excitement. After an hour of driving and stop for lunch, we arrived at

Hajiba Boumasmar HAF Monitoring Officer For the entire day at the headquarters of the High Atlas Foundation in Marrakech, a meeting took place with HAF’s nursery caretakers, together with HAF’s President Yossef, Director of Projects Amina, Project Manager Said, and Monitoring Officer Hajiba. As part of the 2020 project to plant in 11 nurseries 1.2

Dear Friend, The year has almost reached its end. For HAF, it’s the time to plant trees. Planting trees with farming families and schools in Morocco is an act of empowering recognition and strategic development. It acknowledges the priorities of rural communities and is a vehicle for people’s driven change and transformation. With complete hope

By Anna Ugolini HAF Volunteer On November 20th the International Day of Childhood and Adolescence Rights is celebrated throughout the world. The date reminds us of the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted in 1989 the Convention on the Rights of Children and Adolescents and more than 190 countries have ratified it. The

By Imane Akhezzane Project Manager The Small Grants project of the High Atlas Foundation, which is funded by the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs within the U.S. Department of States aims to encourage the development of innovative, sustainable environmental projects that encourage local sustainable resource management and engage civil society to

By Stefano Dessena HAF Volunteer                             Cherry cultivation in Morocco offers almost 15,000 tons of this fruit every year putting the country on the 25th spot in the global producers’ scoreboard.[1] The main production areas are in the High Atlas Mountains and

Written by Khomenko Ekaterina HAF Volunteer Land degradation is a large issue for Morocco. The Atlas Mountains dominate the central part of the country, explaining why much of the landscape is mountainous with slopes that gradually transition into plateaus and valleys, which are very dry during the summer. Even such, dry areas can be made

By Hajiba Boumasmar HAF Intern I had the pleasure of accompanying Said, HAF Project Manager; Hassan, an assistant; and Tobi, a teacher at United World Colleges, on two nursery visits in the Marrakech region. As someone who has always been passionate about agriculture and the environment, the nursery visits had a positive impact on my

Hajiba Boumasmar HAF Intern, University student Nous avons visité deux pépinières de la région de Marrakech, Cette visite a eu un impact positif sur le choix de la Fondation du Haut Atlas de continuer ma carrière professionnelle après l’obtention d’un Master en biotechnologie et développement durable des agro-ressources. Je suis toujours passionnée par l’agriculture et

By Said Bennani HAF Project Manager As a High Atlas Foundation (HAF) Project Manager, my main objective is to work with Moroccan communities and HAF nursery caretakers—of more 13 nurseries around the country—to ensure proper care of the trees, from the time we plant a seed until it becomes a seedling. In partnership with Ecosia,

Camelia Harkousse HAF Intern On Wednesday 26th of June, the group accompanied by HAF Project Manager Errachid Mountassir visited a primary school in Bouchane Rhamna, where the children are learning about environmentalism. The pupils presented for the audience a play in classical Arabic. It was about forgiveness and tolerance. I was astonished how skillfully they

By Houria Chouhab HAF Volunteer On the 10th of May, Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, HAF’s President, and the HAF team visited two villages in the High Atlas mountains not far from the Red City: Talaint and Anamer, which are two villages of the Setti Fatma Commune. HAF’s team had the pleasure to be accompanied by Aysha

By Houria Chouhab HAF Volunteer Hey! My name is Houria and I am a masters degree student at the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences in Marrakech. At the end of the third semester (the end of January), I had to apply for an internship that will be the base of my graduate research. I

by J Rojas Meyer One of the High Atlas Foundation’s general objectives in Morocco is to find novel ways to bridge a critical gap so that farmers and others, can afford to make a vital transition to planting and harvesting fruit trees. Depending of the type of trees and variation in local conditions however, the

Youssef Moussaoui HAF Volunteer New adventure.  New excitement.  After an amazing day in Skoura M’daz, part of the HAF team continues the five-day tree planting campaign. We met farmers from Azrou, in the Amghas commune. Abdelilah accompanied us; he is the caretaker of the HAF Ifrane nursery which is located at the Salaam School. We

Youssef Moussaoui HAF Volunteer The High Atlas Foundation held a tree planting day in AL – Salaam School, where the nursery is located in Ifrane. Abdelilah, the nursery caretaker, led the process. There were 64 participants. Sixty were elementary school children aged between 10 and 12 (30 children were in the fifth grade, and 30

By Youssef Moussaoui HAF Volunteer I have been volunteering for the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) for nearly a month now. Every day is a new experience, and the excitement never seems to end. This time, HAF planned a five-day tree-planting campaign in Fes, Sefrou, Azrou, and Meknes. Project manager Said Bennani and I travelled from

Errachid Montassir HAF project manager A partnership agreement brought together The High Atlas Foundation (HAF) which works to establish participatory development projects for the Moroccan communities, and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE), the world’s second largest wind turbine manufacturer and provides onshore and offshore wind services. Both are dedicated to working with the communities and

by Sofia d’Ávila Heidenreich Lacerda It was on the beggining of my second week of volunteer work at the High Atlas Foudation and my first time on a field trip with them. I had an incredible experience. On January 21st, the staff from HAF, partners, other volunteers and the local people worked together to make

The volunteers from OCP, the HAF team and members of the local association planting the first tree together In the front: a carob tree sapling – ready for being planted! by Celina Böhmer, HAF Intern On Tuesday the 29th of January, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) facilitated a tree planting activity for volunteers from OCP and

By Errachid Montassir HAF Project Manager Every year, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) celebrates its National Tree Planting Day on the third Monday of January, which coincides with Martin Luther King Day, by planting trees with farmers, women, and youth across various Moroccan regions.  This year, the event came on the 21st of January, a

Gabriella Moocarme Project Manager Leadership Development Institute Al-Akhawayn University While Ifrane was getting covered under a white sheet of snow, I was glad to join Abdelillah Ghmiza–a representative of the High Atlas Foundation–for a tree planting day in the warmer region of Meknes on that Monday, 21st of January 2019. The High Atlas Foundation organised the

Financial Manager and Women Empowerment trainer Annually, on the third Monday of January, the High Atlas Foundation (HAF) holds a high-profile day of national tree planting across Morocco.  On this day—the 21st of January this year—Fatima Zahra Laaribi, HAF’s financial Manager, and Abderrahim Baddah, HAF’s nursery caretaker, headed toward Amizmiz, a small mountain town located 60