Sustainable management of the Maritime Public Domain (MPD), which is essential for the blue economy and combating climate change effects, is a major challenge for Morocco. Plans and studies are underway to protect and enhance this heritage through 2035. A participatory approach is favored to ensure effective governance of the coastline.
“The protection and enhancement of the Maritime Public Domain (MPD) and the planning of its exploitation in a rational, balanced, and sustainable manner constitute a collective responsibility,” said Nizar Baraka, Minister of Equipment and Water, on Tuesday in Rabat.
Speaking at the opening of a national study day organized by his department on the theme “For a sustainable and integrated management of the Maritime Public Domain,” the minister stressed the importance of enhancing the MPD as a central element of public policies, particularly regarding sustainability and attractiveness.
“The Maritime Public Domain plays a central role in the development of the blue economy, as a space conducive to numerous coastal and maritime activities, which requires the adoption of spatial plans for its protection, enhancement, and adaptation to new uses.”
He added that the sustainable development of coasts requires the preservation of this public space through its planning and monitoring, as well as anticipating risks by developing and adopting a roadmap based on clear objectives and practical solutions applicable on the ground, alongside a participatory approach that guarantees spatial justice and economic efficiency, identifies major trends, and promotes integration at central, regional, and local levels.
Along the same lines, Baraka noted that the current challenge is “to direct and focus public policies on the sustainable enhancement of the maritime domain and to develop economic activities capable of increasing the national GDP and creating job opportunities, while preserving environmental and maritime balances.”
Furthermore, he affirmed that organizing this study day reflects Morocco’s strong commitment, under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, to the development of an integrated and sustainable maritime economy.
In this regard, Baraka reviewed the measures and actions undertaken by his department, including a series of technical studies aimed at protecting and reinforcing the coastline in many coastal regions of the Kingdom, as well as the development of a master plan for the enhancement of the Maritime Public Domain up to 2035.
This also includes the study of the vulnerability of Morocco’s maritime coasts to natural risks and accidental marine pollution, and the monitoring of the coastline using very high spatial resolution satellite imagery.
For her part, Sanae El Amrani, Director of Ports and the Maritime Public Domain at the Ministry of Equipment and Water, highlighted that this study day continues a series of regional workshops held in various coastal regions, with active participation from local representatives of relevant institutions. These workshops helped identify the main issues and challenges related to the management of the Maritime Public Domain through a consultative and participatory approach.
Moreover, she presented a report emphasizing the richness of the maritime heritage, focusing on the strategic vision for the enhancement of the MPD, which aims to make it a sustainably valued heritage based on several pillars: legal protection, operational management, economic profitability, equity, and ecological conservation.
“Legal protection begins with the delimitation of the MPD by official decrees and also includes the modernization of legislative and regulatory texts related to the MPD, starting with the coastal law and its implementing decrees,” she stated, noting that the operational management of the MPD relies on a governance dimension.
She also emphasized the ministry’s efforts to promote scientific knowledge to guide decision-making in this area, stressing that preservation cannot be ensured without knowledge of the environment, hence the importance of developing multidimensional maps of the MPD.
