Moroccan Biodiversity And Livelihoods Association (MBLA)
Moroccan non-profit organization that promotes the conservation of biodiversity and agrobiodiversity along with the cultural heritage of the country ’s High Atlas Mountains, while seeking to improve livelihoods for rural communities across the region.
Mission Statement
MBLA’s mission is to support High Atlas Mountains’ communities in implementing conservation efforts that restore ecological balance, document and promote traditional conservation practices, and foster sustainable agricultural practices to improve rural livelihoods.
Work Scope
MBLA integrates scientific research and modern agroecological practices with
ancestral, indigenous knowledge. Their holistic approach to livelihoods combines
climate-smart agriculture, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and biodiversity and agrobiodiversity conservation, with the aim of tackling climate
change and biodiversity loss while preserving the cultural identity in the High
Atlas. They seek to build sustainable and climate-resilient food systems that also
protect the agricultural heritage of the region.
Among their main activities, they have created plant nurseries and community
seed banks to conserve local crop varieties. They also help reinforce traditional
irrigation systems, conduct training and capacity building on sustainable
agricultural practices for local farmers, and support the development of over 30
cooperatives.
Apart from establishing relations with other community-based organizations,
MBLA also engages through advocacy work with local, subnational and national
institutional actors in order to influence their policymaking. As part of these
efforts, MBLA is a founding member of the Moroccan arm of the Indigenous
People’s and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) Consortium,
and they participate in the ICCA Global Consortium.
MBLA also promotes the external communication and sharing of results to
stimulate the replication and scaling of best practices in other regions.
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