‪The southern edge of Zaida is only 37 Km from the Northern edge of the Western High Atlas National Park. We’re working with someone who already has a food forest there.‬

‪Most online info is from tourists. We will need to gather info on our next visit.

‪Forest‬

‪Previously a forest of primarily cedars, pines, oaks green junipers, now devastated; industrial logging stopped 40 years ago, probably concurrent with the demise of large-scale mining.. Still a lot of trees here relative to the rest of Morocco , in some parts. ‬

‪Some Photos here (and link to more)‬

‪Mining‬

‪There was a mining industry here, but now only a couple of hundred miners left, mining lead with hand tools. This has made a lot of the area toxic, and the rivers downstream too. Soil analysis should be done throughout, before deciding on food forest or just carbon sink.‬

‪Here is a PDF about the pollution. In the abstract they say it is from waste disposal sites, but if it is anyhting like Cornwall… the tin mines used charcoal from the local trees to process the ore and the smoke from the smokestacks, many of which still stand, has polluted the entire region. So all soils considered for food forest should be tested first.‬

‪So unless the people there really love mining, and it’s the source of great happiness and fulfillment to them, I don’t think there would be any social harm in suggesting an alternative source of income to them. So I think those miners should be a priority should we get reafforestation funding.‬

‪Also worth testing people’s drinking water and looking for signs of poisoning.