Research exploration stay on stakeholder-centered restoration, Morocco

Thanks to the Flexible Travel Funds 2025 of the Berlin Center for Global Engagement (a program of the Berlin University Alliance), I recently had the opportunity to spend three weeks in northern Morocco to strengthen research cooperation with partners in the Global South. The goal of this trip was to co-develop a joint research proposal with Dr. Mchich Derak from the Regional Forest Directorate of Northern Morocco. Our shared vision is to integrate stakeholder participation with ecological and simulation modeling to improve long-term ecosystem restoration strategies in Mediterranean-type forest systems. These ecosystems face increasing pressure from drought, land degradation, wildfires, and overgrazing, challenges that are intensifying under climate change. During my stay, we visited restoration sites in regions such as the Bouhachem Natural Park where we met local stakeholders. These encounters were essential for understanding the socio-cultural dimensions of restoration, as well as the motivations and challenges faced by those directly involved in managing and restoring degraded landscapes. Our collaboration aims to combine Dr. Derak’s participatory planning expertise with my work on ecological simulation modeling, creating tools that allow stakeholders to visualize long-term restoration outcomes under different environmental and management scenarios. Together, we are designing an interdisciplinary framework that will help guide resilient and multifunctional forest landscapes, balancing ecological goals with community needs. On a personal level, this trip was profoundly meaningful. Standing in the fire-prone oak woodlands of northern Morocco and engaging with local communities gave me insights that no report or dataset could offer. Experiencing these landscapes firsthand deepened my understanding of how science and local knowledge can come together to build sustainable restoration strategies. This visit laid the foundation for a strong, long-term collaboration — one that connects modeling with people, data with stories, and research with real-world change.