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Simple Summary: In this paper, we present the first diagnostic of the wintering birds in the wetlands of the Saïss plain and its adjacent Atlas Mountains (north–center of Morocco). The study revealed an unexpected diversity of bird species, for which we provide the population size, with their variations, over five years (2017–2018 to 2022–2023). Among these birds, we found four remarkable species: Oxyura leucocephala (endangered), Aythya ferina (vulnerable), Aythya nyroca (near-threatened) and Limosa limosa (near-threatened). In addition, we illustrated the wetland changes during the last 20 years (2003–2023), mainly the habitat loss for wintering waterbirds. Moroccan wetlands host up to half a million wintering birds and provide a stopover for tens of thousands of migrants, while they are inhabited by few nesting species. Most of this avifauna prefers to use the large coastal wetlands or reservoirs, while many species are dispersed across hundreds of small inland wetlands of various types. In this study, we monitored the wintering avifauna of 11 wetlands of the Saïss plain and its adjacent Atlas Mountains (north–center of Morocco), during six wintering seasons (2017–2018 to 2022–2023), with the objective of assessing the importance of this region as a waterbird wintering area. Using the richness of the species, we determine the bird population changes during this pentad and between the different types of wetlands (natural, human-made, and natural wetlands). During this study, we recorded 51 species, belonging to 17 families, among which exist four remarkable birds: the endangered Oxyura leucocephala, the vulnerable Aythya ferina and the near-threatened Aythya nyroca and Limosa limosa. Bird diversity is higher in human-made ecosystems than in peri-urban and natural ecosystems, while the populations' size is similar in urban and non-urban wetlands. With regard to bird conservation, these inland wetlands, mainly the small ones, are threatened by recurrent droughts and various anthropic stressors, which we describe using our observations of the two last decades (2003–2023). The loss of habitat is significant, reaching 348.5 hectares, while the impacts of reduced precipitation and temperature increase are particularly evident in the mountainous natural lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review attempts to highlight the past and current status of ecotourism in Morocco, investigate its committed as an essential sustainable product, and make recommendations to develop this sector. A deep electronic bibliographic search on Google Scholar, research engines, and databases including Scopus, Science Direct, PubMed, and Hindawi between 1970 and 2023. To accomplish this review, we used the following keywords: ‘ecotourism, geotourism, and sustainable tourism, all in relation to Morocco. Currently, the state has developed articulate projects and policies looking for the enlargement of this segment as a strong alternative pillar. Equally, ecotourism is a way to protect cultural and natural heritage. However, tourist destinations remain conquered by seaside products. While other sustainable practices remain hostile. The concentration of marketing and infrastructure in empirical-coastline cities attracts visitors to these destinations, while other regions are less visited despite their richness in natural and cultural potentials. On the other hand, we proposed to upsurge the awareness of populations toward their cultural and natural heritage as a good manner to protect them and increase their incomes, which is sufficient to develop sustainable tourism. Finally, more deep studies on the effects of ecotourism on the natural ecosystems and cultural values are urgently needed to clarify the potential of natural products counting ecosystems, and their ecological services, of cultural heritage counting prehistoric monuments, mainly in isolated regions, and of infrastructure capabilities between distant places to encourage the equitable distribution of visitors in different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we described the temporal and spatial patterns of wildlife‐vehicle collisions in Dakhla‐Laayoune regions, using counts from cars for two years (2018–2021). A total of 462 roadkills were documented (monthly average of 0.075 roadkills/km), comprising 16 species, including mammals (residents), reptiles (residents), and birds (residents and migrants). Seasonal abundance and diversity of roadkills revealed a high peak during breeding and migration periods for all species. The generalised linear mixed models indicated that wildlife‐vehicle accidents have a higher probability of occurrence close to breeding and feeding sites and road sections with increased vegetation cover. Similarly, road collisions were higher close to migration routes and during breeding periods. Our study provides the first and only detailed results on wildlife road collisions in Morocco. Data gathered from this study provide valuable information for conservation measures of the most affected Moroccan species and Palearctic migrant birds which are crossing between Europe and Africa. Moreover, our data provide a new window of large‐scale comparative studies addressing the impacts of the infrastructures on biodiversity in the entire Atlantic coasts of Northwest Africa. Detailed studies on the local population dynamics of highly affected species are urgently needed to conclude whether these levels of road mortality are supportable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]