Agdal and Tanast: Amazigh knowledge in the service of sustainability

"Min-yinn-argan, tidett-tudert" - Where the argan tree grows: life and the Earth grow stronger
An expression inspired by Amazigh wisdom

The Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve, designated in 1998, covers 2.5 million hectares of argan tree forests in southwestern Morocco, spread across two administrative regions: Marrakech-Safi and Souss-Massa. The reserve is home to approximately three million people, including Amazigh and Arab populations. Its designation has strengthened traditional community dynamics that govern the management of argan forests.

In the transition zone, the local population has successfully preserved the agro-sylvo-pastoral system by aligning fruit-harvesting periods with the biological cycles of the argan tree. The fruits are left to fully ripen, while the fruit-bearing branches and inflorescences, which will produce fruits the following year, are protected.

Among the indigenous knowledge systems related to adaptation to the effects of climate change, the Agdal system stands out as one of the key ancestral Amazigh practices, reflecting collective and sustainable resource management.

The Agdal system represents the main traditional form of land management and natural resource conservation among the Amazigh in Morocco. The term Agdalrefers to a community rule that temporarily prohibits the exploitation of a specific natural resource-most often plant-based-within a defined area, allowing it to regenerate.

Derived from the Amazigh word meaning "to close" or "to fence," the Agdal system is practiced by Amazigh communities, mainly in the High Atlas and Anti-Atlas, and sometimes in the plains of Sous in southern Morocco. It is a form of collective management of cultivated lands, pastures, or forests, and can apply to pastoral areas, orchards (ourtan), or forested lands, notably argan groves.

Under the framework of local customary law, village assemblies-known as jmaâ, lejmaât, or taqbilt-establish a community pact formalizing the decision to implement the Agdal. This pact aims to ensure equitable and sustainable access to natural resources.

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© Andzoa Agadir Maroc

© Andzoa Agadir Maroc

Amazigh traditional knowledge and resource scarcity management in the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve

The Amazigh People have accumulated traditional knowledge over the centuries, deeply rooted in the region's history. Recent archaeological research has revealed that as early as the Neolithic period, the Amazigh were developing advanced agricultural practices. Near the Oued Beht in Morocco, remains of the oldest Neolithic culture in the Maghreb have been discovered, including ceramics, tools, and traces of agricultural activity, attesting to an active sedentary society as early as the 4th millennium BCE.

Studies on the argan tree suggest that it is one of the oldest trees in the world. It is believed to have existed in southern Morocco for over 80 million years. The earliest known written mention of the argan tree appears in the treatises of the renowned Arab-Andalusian physician Abu Muhammad Ibn al-Baytar, dating back to 1219.

Among the key elements of this knowledge, local Amazigh communities have a profound understanding of the argan tree's resilience to drought. Recent studies show that the argan tree adapts to aridity not only through physiological traits-such as reduced leaf area, accumulation of antioxidant compounds, and maintenance of high water content in its leaves-but also through a deep root system, combining a taproot with superficial branching, which maximizes water absorption at different depths.

These characteristics allow the argan tree to survive in areas receiving less than 150 mm of annual rainfall while ensuring viable fruit production (Said Ali et al., 2021). Traditional agricultural practices-such as protecting young plants, respecting dormancy phases, and aligning activities with climatic cycles-are directly based on this empirical knowledge, which is essential for the sustainable management of argan groves.

The division of roles between genders is fundamental in maintaining and transmitting this traditional knowledge. Men are often responsible for the collective management of pastures and the establishment of restricted-use periods, notably through the jmaâ. Women, on the other hand, are the primary actors in the collection, processing, and transformation of products derived from the argan tree, particularly within local cooperatives.

© UNESCO/Nigel Crawhall

The Tanast system and the management of water scarcity

The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly visible across North Africa and the Sahel, where water has become a major challenge. Yet this issue is not new: water scarcity has existed in the region for centuries, though it has worsened over the past fifty years.

To fully understand this system, it is important to place it within a broader framework: that of Amazigh indigenous knowledge. Indeed, the Agdal system does not operate in isolation but is associated with other practices, such as the Tanast system.

In southern Morocco and the oases of the southeast, there exists a traditional water distribution system called Tanast (Faouzi, 2022). The word Tanastcomes from the Amazigh term for "copper." It refers to a vessel used to measure the irrigation time allocated to each water-right holder, allowing water to be shared equitably.

The Tanast consists of a pierced copper bowl placed in a basin filled with water: when the bowl fills and sinks, it marks the passage of a unit of time. Each family entitled to water rights holds a certain number of Tanast units.

The system is managed by the amghar n waman (the water chief), and disputes are resolved according to customary law under the authority of the Inflas (the traditional commune).

With this millennia-old water management system, still in use in some regions, the Amazigh have been able to endure prolonged periods of drought-sometimes lasting ten consecutive years-while preserving fragile ecosystems such as those in the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve.

Amazigh traditional knowledge, particularly the Agdal and Tanast systems, constitutes a genuine global treasure for the sustainable management of scarce natural resources, combating the effects of climate change, and preserving biodiversity. Intergenerational transmission of this knowledge is essential for its continuity. Elders orally pass down rules of access, ecological cycles, customary uses, and resource management techniques to younger generations.

This transmission often takes place in community contexts: village assembly meetings (jmaâ), collective work sessions, ritual ceremonies, or harvesting activities. Women also play a fundamental role in transmitting domestic and agroecological knowledge related to the argan tree, especially within households and cooperatives.

Today, it is essential to value this national heritage, particularly by integrating it into educational programs and national environmental policies, and by implementing UN conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification, fully recognizing the importance of these traditional knowledge systems.