Assessing and integrating freshwater biodiversity considerations in the management of the Moulouya basin in Morocco is a component of the North African part of the "Integration of freshwater biodiversity in the development process throughout Africa" project. Funded by the European Commission and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID), this IUCN initiative is being developed in Morocco in partnership with the Agency of Moulouya Watershed Basin (ABHM) and IUCN Regional Councillor Brahim Haddane. The main objectives are to assess the status of freshwater biodiversity throughout Africa and to demonstrate the application of these data in environment / development planning at four demonstration sites, Moulouya being one of them.

Key species identified and studied in the Mouloya site involve 5 freshwater taxonomic groups: fish, crabs, aquatic plants, dragonflies, and molluscs, with their corresponding habitats. In addition, training workshops have been organised for North African countries and local Moulouya freshwater experts and managers on the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a tool to integrate diverse biodiversity data.

During the visit of Mohamed Melhaoui from Oujda University to IUCN-Med offices in Mlaga on 14 September, progress was achieved on the planning of further activities to present the results of the local biodiversity assessment to relevant decision makers and to develop raising awareness campaigns and tools amongst local communities, including a caravan that will be travelling along the Moulouya River by the end of 2009.

In addition to the above, a monitoring network is being promoted for better communication amongst the parties involved in the biodiversity and water management of the region, including the formulation of key recommendations for including species conservation measures in the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Main conclusions derived from the North Africa Freshwater Biodiversity project, to be published in the form of a report by the end of 2009, include:

- More than one fourth (27%) of the North African freshwater species in the report is threatened with extinction at the regional scale, with a further 9% assessed as Near Threatened and 14% as Data Deficient.

- 18 species are Extinct at the global level, among which one endemic fish Salmo pallaryi and 17 molluscs, the majority of them native from the Palearctic northern African region (Maghreb). A further 30 species are Regionally Extinct, which means that they have disappeared from the region, but still exist in other part of the world. Six Odonata are Extinct at the regional level. Nevertheless, the species of mollusc Margaritifera marocana, considered Extinct, was rediscovered to what subsequent genetic research revealed it is a distinct species.

- Freshwater molluscs and aquatic plants are the taxonomic groups that give uniqueness to the North African region, adding together up to 81.5% of the endemic species in the region.

- Due to the very limited number of river systems and humid areas in the North African countries, freshwater species mainly concentrate in Mediterranean Maghreb, the river Nile in Egypt, Southern Algeria and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

- Habitat loss and degradation, mainly due to water abstraction and infrastructure development, together with pollution, are the major causes of species decline in North Africa.

More info: dania.abdulmalak@iucn.org