Community Perception of Forest Ecosystem Services to Enhance Environmental Decision-making in the Ifrane National Park (Morocco)

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Abstract The concept of ecosystem services is increasingly seen as a tool allowing the achievement of sustainable use of forest resources. However, it is not yet sufficiently integrated into participatory forest management approaches. For this purpose, a study was conducted to assess the direct and indirect benefits of Forest Ecosystem Services perceived by local communities around Ifrane National Park in Morocco and their involvement in its management. The data are collected from 279 households between April and June 2021 through face-to-face interviews. Perceptions of use, priority, and trends of Forest Ecosystem Services are analyzed using descriptive statistics. The Chi-square test was used to examine significant associations between wealth categories and prioritization of provisioning FES. Several provisioning Forest Ecosystem Services have been identified as essential for household subsistence and cash uses. The chi-square test shows an association between provisioning forest services for subsistence and cash use and household wealth categories. Regarding the prioritization of FESs, fifteen were prioritized, showing the need for their integration into any future forest management approach. 92.8% of participants perceived change in ecosystem services using the participatory approaches, this change was almost always positive (30.9%) and often negative (27.6%). Provisioning FES experienced the greatest negative change (59.2%), requiring several interventions to ensure their sustainability. These results confirm the importance of integrating participatory ecosystem service assessment with biophysical evaluations to evaluate the benefits of forest areas for the well-being of users. Lack of involvement in forest management can contribute significantly to unsustainable resource extraction by local communities.

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