The summer season is just around the corner, and preparations for vacation departures are well underway. The Ministry of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development has chosen this context to present the results of the report on the monitoring of bathing water and sand quality of Morocco’s beaches. This was an opportunity to highlight the goals of the national monitoring program, which are to inform and raise awareness among decision-makers and citizens of the need to improve environmental quality.
According to the Ministry’s document, 49 seaside resorts have been declared non-compliant for bathing. These resorts are spread across 22 beaches in 5 regions, namely Tangiers-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Casablanca-Settat, Souss-Massa, and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab.
The main causes of degradation are generally due to the influence of wastewater discharges and pollution inputs from waterways. It has to be said that some beaches are overcrowded with summer visitors. Many of them lack basic infrastructure, such as WCs and waste containers, and the lack of sanitary and drainage facilities at certain beaches is a matter for concern for elected officials and public authorities. The Ministry also presented the status of bathing water profiles as decision-making tools. This involves identifying sources of pollution likely to have an impact on bathing water quality and affect the health of bathers, according to the summary note. It also involves defining the management measures to be implemented and the actions aimed at eliminating these sources of pollution. According to the document, the Ministry has continued to monitor beach sand, including marine litter, by using internationally-recommended methodologies. Sand monitoring for the year 2023 involved 63 beaches, and included campaigns to sample sand for mycological analysis, in accordance with current standards, as well as campaigns to determine the typology and identification of marine litter on beaches. As far as mycological quality is concerned, this monitoring has revealed the presence of certain fungi, which do not generally present a health risk, on certain beaches. As for beach litter, it is characterized by the preponderance of the plastic-polystyrene category, which accounts for around 90% of all marine litter nationwide. Sub-categories such as cigarette butts, cigarette filters, plastic caps and lids, potato chip and candy wrappers top the list, accounting for 60% of all collected debris.
Mohamed CHAOUI
