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Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The site is a National Park covering 36,000 ha of the High Atlas, including the highest mountain in Morocco, Jbel Toubkal (4,167 m). Located only 60 km south of the town of Marrakech, the dramatic mountain scenery attracts thousands of visitors each year, many of whom climb Jbel Toubkal or trek elsewhere in the park. The mountain summits are often only slightly above the level of their surrounding high plateaus, which are separated by deep valleys. The park extends from 1,000 m upwards and therefore encompasses a range of vegetation-types, from forest to alpine meadow. Forest only covers 15% of the park, and consists mainly of the oldest
Quercus rotundifolia stands in the High Atlas and
Juniperus thurifera. Along the valleys, irrigated agriculture is practised and most of the park is used for extensive livestock-grazing.
See Box and Table 2 for key species. More than 95 breeding species have been recorded, among them nine species of the Mediterranean North Africa biome. Thirteen raptors are recorded, among them
Gypaetus barbatus, which definitely bred in the park until 1980. The Parc National de Toubkal is one of only two areas in Morocco where
Apus caffer has been recorded breeding, and also holds several species with quite localized distributions in Africa, such as
Rhodopechys sanguinea and
Eremophila alpestris.
Non-bird biodiversity: Until the 1960s the large carnivore Panthera pardus panthera (CR) survived here, but it is now considered extinct. There is an increasing population of the ungulate Ammotragus lervia (VU)—up from a few dozen individuals in the 1960s to 400 in 1996—and troops of the primate Macaca sylvanus (VU) occur. The gazelle Gazella cuvieri (EN) is being reintroduced in an enclosure. Seven endemic reptiles are present: Quedenfeldtia trachyblepharus, Lacerta andreanskyi, Psammodromus microdactylus, Chalcides montanus, C. polyepsis, Ophisaurus koellikeri and Vipera monticola. The Parc National de Toubkal is also rich in endemic plants; indeed, of the 145 endemic Moroccan plant taxa, 24 have only ever been recorded from the park. Levels of plant endemism increase at higher altitudes: for example, of the 19 plant species found above 3,800–3,900 m, 15 are endemic.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The National Park was created by ‘Arrête viziriel’ on 19 January 1942. Despite its protected status, the park has been facing growing pressures since the 1960s. Poaching has wiped out some species and overgrazing has destroyed or degraded much of the natural vegetation. Tourism has mushroomed and led to erosion of footpaths—on some days 30–40 tourists may be found together at one time on the summit of Jbel Toubkal, in spite of the long and arduous trek required to reach it. To counter these threats and safeguard wildlife, in the 1950s AEFCS created a reserve for
Ammotragus lervia adjacent to the park, and in 1994 enclosed an area of 1,000 ha for the reintroduction of
Gazella cuvieri. Both these measures have resulted in the protection of areas of forest habitat which are important for breeding birds. In 1994, a management plan for the park was drawn up under the auspices of AEFCS. Further conservation measures required include the training of local guides; the protection of nest-sites of the rarer bird species, particularly raptors; maintenance of trails to prevent erosion; and the establishment of grazing enclosures to protect endemic plant species.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Parc National de Toubkal (Morocco). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/parc-national-de-toubkal-iba-morocco on 23/11/2024.
