Echoes of the Oasis: Water-dependent cultural ecosystem services in the Middle Drâa valley, Morocco

Abstract

Cultural ecosystem services are vital to local identity, well-being and social cohesion in arid regions such as the Middle Drâa valley in Morocco. However, climate change, recurrent droughts and human practices are threatening their continuity. We investigated changes in cultural ecosystem services caused by droughts in the Mezguita, Ternata and Fezouata oases through interviews and surveys with local inhabitants. Our findings show a decline in water-dependent cultural ecosystem services such as agricultural festivals, spiritual practices and traditional crafts, leading to cultural erosion and loss of identity. Community activities such as riverbed cleaning and collective irrigation have also become rare. Conversely, artisanal knowledge-sharing (e.g. pottery or silverwork) and spiritual music are the only ones that show resilience and adapted to environmental and socio-economic changes. The decline of cultural ecosystem services has also been a source of psychological distress, with communities expressing anxiety about the disappearance of traditions and the degradation of the landscape. These findings highlight the limitations of existing ecosystem service frameworks, which often overlook intangible and relational interactions with nature. To safeguard both biodiversity and cultural heritage, it is imperative to integrate cultural ecosystem services into conservation policies, fostering adaptive strategies that sustain oasis landscapes and their cultural significance in the face of environmental uncertainty.