Princess Hasna promotes development

Princess Lalla Hasna, Chairwoman of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, presided, on Saturday in Marrakech, over the signing ceremony of four support agreements to the Programme for the Preservation and Development of Marrakech Palm Grove, on the sidelines of a meeting to assess the programme’s achievements. These agreements aim mainly to boost the gains of the Programme’s first phase, notably the plantations, as well as education and raising environmental consciousness and launching structuring projects. These agreements were signed by the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment with the Moroccan phosphates company (OCP), the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion (CDG), Credit Agricole (Bank), the Education and Culture Foundation of the Banque Populaire Group and Cooper Pharma - pharmaceutical company.     Thus, under the first agreement, the CDG undertakes to finance the activities of the Foundation provided under the Voluntary Carbon Offset Programme, through the palm plantation in the palm grove of Marrakech for carbon sequestration and the purchase and installation of photovoltaic kits for lighting and the operation of electrical devices (PC, TV and refrigeration) and, in some cases, the water pumping in rural schools.     The CDG Foundation is also committed to organizing information and vocational training workshops and the development of technical guides and teaching on topics related to the greenhouse effect, climate change and its impacts on sustainable development.     Through these actions, the CDG aims to offset its CO2 emissions related to their travel, by car and plane, of all managers and staff of the CDG group, calculated on the basis of estimated quantities of CO2 emitted annually.     Regarding the second agreement, the OCP undertakes to support the activities of the Foundation as provided for under the second phase of the Programme for the preservation and development of the palm grove of Marrakech, by supporting the planting programme through the planting of 15,000 plants, participating in the implementation of the irrigation project from the palm of treated wastewater through the treatment plant of the RADEEMA and supporting the Foundation’s actions and programmes for environmental awareness and education.     Regarding the third agreement, Crédit Agricole is committed to financing the Foundation’s activities planned under the second phase of the Foundation’s Programme, by participating in the implementation of the irrigation project of the palm from the wastewater treated by the RADEEMA treatment plant, a leading project across Morocco, and by supporting the Foundation in its actions and programmes for environmental awareness and education.     With regard to the fourth agreement, the Education Culture Foundation of the Banque Populaire group is committed to supporting the Foundation in setting up its plan for the centre of environmental education in Bouknadel (Morocco’s west), particularly in its phase relative to engineering, landscape and architecture.     Under the fifth ageement, Cooper Pharma undertakes to supporting the activities of the Foundation, through the Voluntary Carbon Offset Programme, through the planting of palm trees in the palm grove of Marrakech for carbon sequestration and the purchase and installation of photovoltaic kits for lighting and operation of electrical devices (PC, TV and refrigeration) and, in some cases, pumping water in rural schools.     Cooper Pharma is also committed to organizing information and vocational training workshops and the development of technical guides and teaching on topics related to the greenhouse effect, climate change and its impacts on sustainable development.     Under these agreements, the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection is committed vis-à-vis its partners to ensuring the project management and coordination of the programmes.     It also undertakes to develop and implement, in consultation with the partners, the outreach programmes and information for different stakeholders and users of the palm, the interests of safeguarding and preserving the heritage of the palm by implementing all educational tools and appropriate communication and informed partners about the development of the abovementioned programmes.