UEMF celebrates International Mountain Day differently

Aware that ecosystems support all forms of life on Earth, Euromed University of Fes hosted on 1 March 2024 an international symposium under the theme “Restoring mountain ecosystems: the case of the Fès-Meknès region”, organized by the University itself, its component the Institute of Legal and Political Sciences (ISJP) and the African Network for Sustainable Development (RA2D), in partnership with the Province of Sefrou, the M’Daz Association for Tourism Development (AMDET) and the National Water and Forestry Agency.

Declared by the UN since 2003, 11 December is International Mountain Day. The celebrations aim each year to raise awareness of the importance of mountains through themes linked to major issues; “Restoring mountain ecosystems” was therefore the theme chosen this year to celebrate this Day. A theme selected to fully integrate mountains into the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 initiative. An opportunity to converge political support, scientific research and financial resources to intensify restoration activities significantly and prevent the degradation of mountain ecosystems, hence the University’s commitment as both an institutional and academic partner.

Celebrated over two days, the second edition of this international day took on a new dimension by offering a conducive framework for exchanges and collective reflections bringing together a panel of international experts, researchers in the field and field actors gathered during the panels of the symposium held on the first day of this event. 

The interventions and discussions of this symposium were organized into three panels around, first, the specificity of the mountain ecological issue, second, the place of the mountain in the sustainable development agenda and, to close the day, an overview of research on mountain ecosystem protection, thus covering the social, economic and political aspects of this issue.

Recommended by the UN, the second day was devoted to a commune in the province of Sefrou, Tazouta. The day featured hiking activities, a marathon for the commune’s children, awareness workshops for participants and exhibitions of local products from regional cooperatives aiming to strengthen the region’s social and solidarity economy. The ultimate objective of this second day was immersion in a natural context to appreciate the territorial potential of the mountain, represented by Tazouta for this edition, but also to meet with local inhabitants to highlight mountain issues and find alternative solutions within an approach aimed at preserving the environment.

Perfectly embodying a significant advance in raising awareness of the crucial importance of restoring mountain ecosystems, the holding of this second edition of International Mountain Day saw the realization of a success marked by the diversity of activities offered by the organizers, the quality of exchanges in various formal and informal contexts and the relevance of the chosen symposium panels.