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The High Atlas Mountains of Morocco are recognized as a global hotspot for rapid environmental change, but there is limited information about how communities and households are responding. Rural livelihoods that are dependent on agriculture are highly vulnerable to intensifying climate extremes, especially when these stressors intersect with long-term socioeconomic trends, including out-migration to urban centers. In 2022–2023, we carried out a a household survey and focus group discussions to understand the evolution of livelihood strategies in four Amazigh villages in Imegdal Commune in the western High Atlas. Results suggest that water shortages are causing cropping systems to simplify, as households stop planting some crop species and reduce the area planted of others. Households are also reducing livestock numbers in response to drought and reductions in labor availability created by migration. Other natural resource-based activities, including beekeeping and collecting wild herbs, are being abandoned. This study suggests that decreasing precipitation is rapidly undermining the viability of agricultural activities in the High Atlas. In the absence of viable adaptation strategies, this could lead to a profound restructuring of rural livelihoods across the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population characteristics of the Barbary sheep Ammotragus lervia, the only wild caprine in Northwest Africa, were investigated in a captive population located in a 150-ha fenced area within the Amassine reserve, Morocco, created for promoting wildlife watching tourism. We analysed the population trend during 20 years since the introduction of 10 individuals in 1999. Using direct counting in March-April 2016 to 2019, before herd dispersal, we assessed population size, age-sex structure, birth and survival rates. We estimated survival rates from mortality analysis using exponential regression models. The population size exhibited fluctuations over time expressed by significant exponential equations. We observed three successive phases corresponding each to a fast-growing period followed by a sharp decline. Estimated population density ranged from 0.25 to 0.41 ind. ha−1. Adult sex ratio varied from 67 to 91 rams per 100 ewes. Juveniles and subadults comprised 27–43 % of the population, and adults, rams and ewes, represented 26–31 % and, 29–45 %, respectively. Birth rate varied from 14 to 73 lambs per 100 ewes. The survival rate during the postnatal year approximated 35 %. For adult rams, it was around 69 % year−1. Our findings would be helpful for developing a sustainable population management plan, and assessing potential reintroduction/restocking in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]