Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

Natural ecosystems of the Tensift Watershed, located in the mid-western region of Morocco, around the Marrakech area, appear vulnerable to drought and perspectives of climate change. The approach based on the predictive cartography was used to test the susceptibility of the basin to water erosion and vulnerability to climate change was studied by the multifactorial spatial analysis method.The results of the susceptibility to erosion study revealed that 65% of the watershed is of high to very high sensitivity to erosion. Moderately susceptible units occupy 20% of the basin area whereas the very low-risk area represents only 15%.The results of vulnerability to climate change show that 98% of the total watershed area is currently vulnerable to highly vulnerable to climate change with only 2% accounting to low vulnerability. By projecting into the future, this vulnerability will be even greater towards 2070 in an optimistic scenario whereas in a pessimistic scenario, the results are even more disturbing. The adoption of a comprehensive strategy for the ecological management of natural ecosystems associated with adaptation actions to climate change perspectives will contribute to the sustainability of environmental services provided by natural resources of the Tensift watershed.