Living Treasures, Common Goods and Tourism Development of the Agdal of Yagour, Zat Valley, High Western Atlas, Morocco

Abstract

The plateau of Yagour is one of the high places of the cultural and natural heritage of the northern watershed of the Toubkal massif in Morocco. Through their ancestral know-how, they maintain a symbiosis between two productive systems, namely agriculture (vegetable, cereal and fruit), and extensive livestock farming. Common property is shared and managed by rights holders from neighbouring valleys. Today, the development of the accessibility of the Yagour favours the mobility of riparian populations and, of course, tourists. Straddling between the valley of mass tourism of “Ourika” and the valley barely touristic of “Zat”, the Yagour plateau should in the near future face the challenges of the tourism industry. In the face of such an upheaval and in order to ensure the sustainability and promotion of the various heritage resources, this article will first examine the changes and developments in the different production systems, their trends of convergence or divergence, and the resulting synergies and competitions. In a second phase, we will discuss the potential and the challenges that tourism could bring to this territory, its heritage and the people who live there. Finally, we will examine the role of mediation between actors, in their nested and hierarchical system, in order to face the new stakes of this territory, as well as the role of tourism as a facilitator of this mediation.