WASHINGTON, DC—The USDA Forest Service’s International Programs, the San Juan National Forest and Santa Fe National Forest recently partnered to host three people from the Morocco Agency for Water and Forest for a one-week study tour visiting watersheds in New Mexico. The study tour provided an opportunity for the Forest Service and ANEF to exchange experiences and perspectives, and for ANEF to learn about how the Forest Service classifies watershed condition and implements restoration practices.

Forest Service staff, including Shauna Jensen, Amina Sena, Karl Buermeyer, and Kevin Carns, shared methods for conducting watershed assessments and suggested approaches for restorative action. The study tour group discussed how to identify partners, methods for enhancing communication and coordination when engaging with external agencies, and how to include stakeholders in the planning and implementation of restoring watershed health.

ANEF study tour participants are now determining what U.S. systems could work in Morocco and are creating a roadmap for planned short- and medium-term implementation actions.

Like some watersheds in the U.S., Morocco’s watersheds are threatened by erosion and desertification. In addition, unsustainable land management practices such as overgrazing and deforestation are threatening watersheds in Morocco. Climate change is intensifying these challenges.

Damage to Morocco’s watersheds will have devastating consequences for local livelihoods and the availability of clean drinking water. ANEF requested Forest Service support in developing national-scale reporting and monitoring of restoration challenges and successes, in addition to improving overall watershed health.

The study tour was organized by Angela Trujillo with the International Programs Office and funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. Sena and Jensen co-facilitated the study tour. Guest speakers from the City of Las Vegas Gallinas Municipal Watershed, New Mexico Highlands University Forestry Department, New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute, Pueblo of Jemez Natural Resources Department, National Park Service Valles Caldera National Preserve and River Source participated in the study tour.

The Forest Service has collaborated with the ANEF since 2007 on several natural resource management programs, including rangeland management, wildfire management and watershed management to enhance forest conservation throughout the country. Since 2016, the Forest Service has collaborated on watershed management in Morocco by exchanging experience to improve watershed management efforts.