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Potential Forests: Degradation Narratives, Science, and Environmental Policy in ProtectorateMorocco, 1912-1956Author(s): Diana K. Davis

Reviewed work(s):Source: Environmental History, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 2005), pp. 211-238Published by: Forest History Society and American Society for Environmental HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3986113 .

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DIANAK.DAVISPOTEFORESTS :

degradationarratives,SCIENCE,AND ENVIRONMENTALOLICYNPROTECTORATEOROCCO,912-1956

THE COMPLEXWAYS n which degradation narratives inform and affectenvironmental policies in Africa and other regions have received growingscholarlyattentionoverthe last decade.Researchersareincreasinglyquestioningthe received wisdom of conventional environmentalnarratives, many of whichwere written during the colonial period. Much of this work points outexaggerationsand errorsin the data or the interpretations of data upon whichthese environmentalnarratives,andmanyenvironmentalhistories, are based. Asubstantialportionof this recentresearchhighlights the politicaland economicpurposes to which these questionable environmentalnarrativeswere, and are,frequently put.'

Todate, an astonishingly small amount of this kind of research has beenconductedon environmentalnarratives that concern the Middle East and NorthAfrica.This is evenmoresurprising given that the aridlandscapes of this regionoften are described and defined as deforested andovergrazedenvironmentsthathave been subjectedto centuries of abusebylocalpeoples.This articleexamineshow the dominant environmental history of North Africa informed thedevelopmentof environmentalpolicyin Moroccoduringthe colonial period,1912-1956,and analyzes some of the majoreffects of these policies. Theconventionalenvironmental history of North Africa, still ubiquitous today, was conceivedprimarilyduringthe Frenchcolonial occupation of Algeria,dating from1830. It

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212 I ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 10 (APRIL 2005)

is an environmental narrative of decline, of the ruin of a previously fertilelandscape by centuries of deforestation and overgrazing by Arabnomads andtheir livestock herds. Recentpaleoecologicalstudies, however,have questionedratesofdeforestationdescribed n this narrativeas wellas the extent ofhistoricalforest coverin NorthAfrica,particularly n Morocco.Contemporary esearchinarid lands ecology and pastoral studies likewise has questioned thedestructiveness of traditional anduses assumedinthis declensionist narrative.2Most environmental policy in colonial Morocco outside of urban andagriculturalareas was developed n orstronglyinfluencedbya single keysector:forestry.That is, most land not under cultivationor built upon came underthepurview of the forestry department(Servicedes Eauxet For6ts)or was stronglyaffected by this department.Theforestry departmentwas developedbyone manwho directed it for decades. The influence of this man, Paul Boudy(1874-1957),andhis conviction hatMoroccowasseverelydeforested,cannot be overestimated.Boudy,deeply imbued with the conventionalenvironmentalnarrativeof NorthAfrica,identified traditional livestock grazing as the most significant cause ofdeforestation and environmentaldegradation in the protectorate.He presidedover the creation of the Moroccan orest code and several amendments to it, aswell as the developmentof new laws and policies, all of which restricted andregulatedgrazinginforestedareas.Underhis leadership,evennon-arboreal reas,such as the immensealfagrass pasturesin easternMorocco,werebroughtunderthe controlof the forestrydepartment.

The forestry department worked closely with the livestock and rangemanagementdepartment (Servicede l'tlevage). Forestlaws and policies greatlyaffected the work of the livestockdepartmentwhichlikewisewas staffed bymentrainedin the conventionalenvironmentalnarrativeof NorthAfrica.Thusmuchof theirwork, oo, focused onrestoringwhatthey sawas a degradedenvironmentby intensifying livestock raising for commodityproduction and by promotingsedentarization. Because unforested land not under cultivation or built up incities and villages was used largely for grazing, the policies of the livestockdepartment extended the use and impact of this declensionist environmentalnarrative o most of the rest of Morocco. nhelping to shape so manypolicies, theenvironmentalnarrativefavoredimperial interests over indigenous interests.Further, t facilitatedthe dispossession of Moroccans fromtheir lands and thedestructionof their traditional livelihoods.The conventional environmental history of Morocco, based on thisdeclensionist colonial environmental narrative, was well-established by thenation's independence in 1956. What had begun as a largely literary narrativebefore Moroccowas even colonized had been transformed nto a scientific storyofdeforestationandenvironmentaldegradation"proven" yvegetation mapsandvoluminous ecological statistics andcalculations. These statistics, calculations,andmapswereprovidedbythose workingin the young science of plant ecologyduringthe 1920S and1930s. Thedevelopmentofpotentialvegetationmaps-mapsof what the naturalvegetation could and shouldbe-was particularly nfluentialin providing scientific authority for forestryand other environmentalpolicies.

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POTENTIAL FORESTS I 213

InMorocco, he most influentialplantecologistwas LouisEmberger 1897-1969).Trained as a phytosociologist (plantecologist) in France,he wrote much of thedefinitive scientific literatureon Morocco'svegetation.Emberger,hough, like most phytosociologicalresearchers,relied on certaintypes of relictvegetation and othersubjectivemeasures-which were assumedtobe indicative of the original, natural vegetation-to formulate his calculationsand conclusions. As Embergeralso had been brought up with the conventionalenvironmental narrative of NorthAfrica,his belief that Moroccowas severelydeforested informed his research. The statistics, articles, and maps that heproducedquantified, rationalized,and institutionalized much of the dominantenvironmentalnarrative n the science of plant ecologyforMorocco.Emberger'sresearch was used as scientific proofof severe deforestationby Boudyto justifyforestry policies that severelyrestricted traditional uses of the forest by localMoroccans. Boudy further strengthened and institutionalized the colonialenvironmentalnarrativein a four-volume reatise on North Africanforests. Histreatise still is citedtodayas an authoritativesourceof information onforests inMorocco,Algeria,and Tunisia.3Thisarticle elucidates howan inaccuratenineteenth-centurynarrativebasedlargelyon classical literary sources shaped environmentalpolicyformulation nMoroccoduring the colonial period. It is the first work to detail how such anarrativewas itself refined andquantifiedduringthe colonialperiod.Theessayexplainshowthe narrativebothinformed,and ater wasjustifiedby,developmentsin plant ecology and the construction of potential vegetation maps, to becomeinstitutionalized as the dominant environmentalhistory of Morocco.In doingso, it arguesthat this environmentalnarrative ormedafundamentally mportantpartofthe context inwhichmany environmentalaws andpolicies weredevelopedand thus challenges much previous scholarshipon environmentalhistory andenvironmentalpolicy in Morocco.NORTHAFRICA N THEFRENCHCOLONIALMAGINARYLONG EFORERENCHolonialadministration,NorthAfricaheld aspecialplacein the imaginations of most Europeans,as a region of legendarynaturalfertility.Within the first twodecades of the Frenchoccupationof the Maghreb,beginningwith the invasion of Algeriain 1830, an environmentalnarrativedeveloped romthis imaginarywhich would have a profoundimpact on colonization efforts inAlgeria,Tunisia andMorocco.Thisnarrative,whichlater wouldbecome the mostcommonenvironmentalhistory of NorthAfrica,was composed of two primaryparts.Informedargelyby familiarFrenchreadings of classicaltexts such as Pliny,Strabo,Herodotus,and Ptolemy,NorthAfricawas interpretedas formerlybeing"themost fertileregionintheworld."Notlimitedto romanticwriters,journalists,or historians, this long-standing interpretationwas formalized by the official,government-sponsored,Exploration Scientifique de l'Algerie of the 183os and1840s. One of its authorsproclaimed in 1847 that "thisland, once the object ofintense cultivation, was neither deforested nor depopulatedas today, ... it was

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214 j ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 10 (APRIL 2005)

the abundant granary of Rome."This particular quote reveals the new,colonialhalf of the narrative, hat of decline.4Based mostly on the writings of medieval Arab historians such as IbnKhaldoun, the second half of the narrative claimed that the North African

environment had been deforested, overgrazedand desertified by hordes of Arabnomadsand their voracious herds of livestock. Apopularquoteused in a varietyof permutations fromthe 186os on, for example, expressed the sentiment well:"when the Arabs invaded the North of Africa ... cities were annihilated, firedestroyed the harvests, the plantations, the forests, and a society newlyestablished on this land was devastated." Once created, this narrative hadtenacious staying power.Nearly hreequartersof acentury ater,slightlydifferentversions of it remainedin official use. Oneversion, for example,described"theprofound convulsions which since the Romanera have upset the country:thepassage of the Arabarmies and later the Hillaliantribal invasion... havemadeofthis country a desert strewn with ruins which however attest to its ancientprosperity."5The story thus claimed that since the Arabinvasions of the seventh andeleventh centuries, the descendants of the Arab nomads had perpetuated,withtheir destructive land-usepractices (burningand grazing),the decline and ruinof the NorthAfricanenvironment.Thepartof the indigenous populationdefinedas Berber,by contrast,was portrayedas mostly sedentaryand agricultural,andthereforegood (orat least better)stewards of the environment.6 n combinationwith the prevailingsentiment that, in NorthAfrica,Francewas "thelegitimatesuccessor of Rome,"his createda powerfulrationale for sedentarizationas thecolonialpowersclaimedit was their dutyto restore the formerfertilityandgloryof ancient Rome.The impact of this environmentalnarrative on colonialpolicyin Algeria, and later Tunisia and Morocco,was wide ranging. It justified theappropriation of forests by the state, the expropriation of large amounts ofagriculturalandpasture land,the developmentof elaborateagriculturalpolicies,and the control of pastoralnomadic and transhumant populations in the nameof environmentalprotection.7

Morocco was an integral part of this environmental narrative from itsinception in the nineteenth century.A typical book on NorthAfrica,althoughwrittenjust a fewyearsafter the captureof Algeria,reiterated he ancient GreekgeographerStrabo'sobservation that "allof the [land]betweenCarthageand thePillars of Hercules[fromTunisto the Atlanticocean] is of an extremefertility."Thepillars of Herculesare, accordingto classical mythology, he mountains oneither side of the Straits of Gibraltarwhich, when pushed apart by Hercules,createdthe Straits.Thus this exalted areaof assumedextremefertilitystretchedfromcontemporaryTunisia well into Morocco.Fromat least the mid-nineteenthcenturyon,Moroccowas oftensingledoutas "oneof the most beautiful and fertilecountries of the earth."It, like AlgeriaandTunisia, was frequently described asZoneof the granariesof Rome." n the decade or so leading up to the conquest ofMoroccon1912,descriptionsofMorocco's ncientfertility and its lushvegetationbecame more common and moredetailed.8

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Figure 1. The Remains of a Roman Aqueduct in the Region of Cherchell.

X . i i _ _ | |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source:Mus6esdes Beaux-Artsdo Rouen,France.Thismageis reproducedwiththe kindpermnissionf the Mus6esdes Beaux-Arts e Rouen,photographieDidierTragin CatherineLancien.This1868 painting by Victor-Pierre Huguet is characteristic of many romanticized nineteenth-centuryrepresentations f Romanruins nNorthAfrica.Such paintingsoften were embellishedwiththe figuresof 'nomads" such as those representedhere. The wuined queduct, the scant vegetation, and thepresence of nomadsand theircamels all work ogetherto reinforce he degradationnarrative ere andin similar French orientalist painting of the period.

Although ittle actuallywas knownaboutMoroccoat the turn of the century,lengthy descriptions of Roman Morocco as far south as the Draa river on theAtlanticcoast extolled its marvelousfertility(seemap).One author in particular,MauriceBesnier,did that in authoritativeand extensive tracts for the ScientificMission of Morocco (Mission Scientifique du Maroc), a research groupcommissionedby the Frenchgovernment.Based on his readings of the ancienttexts of Strabo,Pliny, Pomponius Mela, and others, he proclaimedthat in thepast, "exceptfor a few deserts of small extent, Mauretania[Morocco] had]onlyfertile land and [was]well suppliedwith streams. It [was]very forested and thetrees [attained] here a prodigious height."This environmentalnarrativebecame

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Map 1. Morocco.

rp,t\ Tafilelt ,l*Ousarzazate ,___ O

amorZaor

Argan,.4t5X A I g e r i al

Forest ~ ~ Foes F

y tts N ~~~M'hamid.7

Kilometres

D raa __ ' O.K.Davis January005 tMap rMatedyauthor.enshrined in the series of volumes begun by the Mission Scientifique du Maroc,Les Archives Marocaines, from approximately 903 into the 1930S.9The idea that Moroccohad been the granaryof Rome,and also the locationofthe mythical garden of the Hesperides, was used to formulate and to justifyextensive agricultural policies during the colonial period in Morocco.Thoseagriculturalpolices have receivedconsiderable cholarlyattention.Whathasbeenless well explored is how the idea that Moroccohad been significantly moreforested during the classical and pre-Islamicperiods influenced colonialpolicy,especially environmental policies outside of the agricultural sector. Yetdescriptions of NorthAfrican orests duringantiquityattractedas muchattentionas did the granary-of-Romemyth during the French colonial period, since theywere interpreted as indicators of the region's innate natural fertility andenvironmental salubrity.As early as 1846 ancient sources like Pliny werebeingused as evidence that "grand forests" once covered the sides of the Atlasmountains and that neighboring forests were "full of elephants, other wildanimals and huge serpents." This same description by Pliny is repeated often

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during the colonial period in Morocco. Besnier's articles in the ArchivesMarocaines, orexample,claimed that "theAtlas were covered n dense forests."'0

Contemporarypaleoecological evidence, however,has convincedmany thatMoroccohas not experienced deforestationof significant portionsof its arborealvegetation. Althoughthere has been a reduction in some species over the lasttwo thousand years, many areas considered severely deforested-such as theMiddle Atlas mountain region-appear not to have experienced significantchanges in vegetation, especially of most tree species, duringthis time. It alsohas been demonstrated that many traditional forms of resource use such asextensive herding and even the use of fire in the Mediterraneanbasin are notnecessarily harmful, since much of the vegetation has adaptedto grazing andfire over thousands of years.The scientists and administrators n the Moroccanprotectoratedidnot, of course,have such evidenceconcerningthese issues. Theychose, however,to make comparisonswith descriptions from classical sourcesto draw heconclusionthatthe Moroccan andscapeas theFrench ound t aroundthe turn of the centurywas egregiouslydeforested."

When the protectoratewas established, though, the amount and severityofdeforestation were not yet quantified.As in Algeria and Tunisia, the Moroccannarrativenonetheless primarilyblamedthe Arabnomadinvasionof the eleventhcentury forthe generaldestruction of a formerly ush landscape, and especiallyforthe assumed deforestation.Thisculpabilitywas extended to the Arabpastoralnomadpopulations ivingin the regionsincethat time. Itwasfrequently amented,from the early days of the protectorate,that in the Moroccancountryside,"aseverywhere,the Arab has destroyed the tree."'2Such assumptions about thegeneral degradedstate of Morocco's orests, made since before the protectoratewas established, providedan imperativeto resurrect the forest in Morocco romthe earliest daysof Frenchcontrol.This historical narrativeof deforestation andenvironmentaldecline thus underpinned he creation, development,andappliedworkof the Moroccan orest service.RESURRECTINGTHEFORESTIN1954,TWOyearsbeforeindependence,the honorary nspector general of theMoroccanforestry department,Paul Louis Jules Boudy,presented a historicaloverview of four decades of triumphalworkby the department.His expose wastitled "LaResurrectionde la Foret Marocaine," nd it began, "In1913,the dayafterthe establishment of the protectorateof France, he Moroccan orest was ina miserablestate andits trajectory ended towardabsolute zero[sic]."Thisquotesuccinctly summarizes the views of Boudy, he man who created the Moroccanforestry department, directed it for three decades, and maintained stronginfluence in the departmentuntil Moroccan ndependence.Boudy's iews of NorthAfrican and Moroccanenvironmentalhistory mirrored he predominantviewsof the periodand areclearlyreflected in how he shaped the Moroccan orest codeandenactedforestry policies. Hebelievedpassionatelythat Moroccohad enjoyedextensive forests in the past and that, if destructive local forest use could beprevented, he protectoratehadgreat potentialfor extensive forests in the future.

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218 I ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 1 0 (APRIL 2005)

Figure 2. Paul Boudy.

ia Es~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.. . .... ,X..._

Archives e l'EcoleNationale u G6nieRural, es Eaux t des Forfts(ENGREF),ancy,France.This mageisreproducedwith the kindpermissionof ENGREF.Paul Boudy, pictured with his National Forestry School Graduating Class, 1897, is second from theright, wearing a large, floppy beret.A forester by training, he rose to unusual positions of power in Morocco withinand outside of the forestry department.13Paul Boudy was born in July 1874 in France. He graduated from the nationalforestry school at Nancy in 1897. In 1898, he was posted to Algeria and then toTunisia in 1904. In 1907, he joined the reforestation department back in Algeria,and became director. In March 1912, the official beginning of the Moroccanprotectorate, Boudy volunteered to leave Algeria to go to Morocco to help withforestry issues in the new protectorate. By March 1913, he had arrived in Moroccoand been appointed director of the newly established forestry department. Boudyran the forestry department for nearly thirty years, until 1941. He stayed on as anofficial adviser to the protectorate administration until his death in 1957. TheResident General of Morocco, General Louis-Hubert-Gon alves Lyautey (1854-1934), ordered the creation of the forestry department in 1913, and it was placedunder the general direction of the department of agriculture, commerce, andcolonization. The first order of business, by order of Lyautey,was to save the corkforests along the mid-Atlantic coast (Mamora) and to turn them into profit-generating export forests. This interest in cork followed a 1912 harvest that wasthe largest and most lucrative harvest of cork in Algeria since 1830. The Moroccancork forests were considered degraded from indigenous abuse but capable of beingsaved, reconstituted, and made similarly profitable. As in Algeria, theenvironmental narrative of ruin which blamed the indigenous populations servedthe interests of some stake holders in Morocco much more than others. Theprotectorate administration, for example, declared ownership over all forestedareas in the name of environmental protection but, importantly, generated

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substantialrevenuefromthe sale of cork,timber,andother forestproductswhichwas used to finance Frenchadministrationof the territory.Revenuefrom forestproduction grew quickly during the first few years of the protectorate.Between1915 and 1918, for example, revenue increased over 8oo percent.14When Boudyarrived n Morocco,as a veteran of twelveyears in the forestrydepartmentsofAlgeriaandTunisia,he likely alreadyhad an idea of what he wouldfind in Moroccan forests. The forests in Algeria and Tunisia were widelyconsidered to have been destroyedbycenturies of abuse by indigenous land-usepractices such as grazing and burning. In 1914, Boudy published an article onthe forests of Morocco hat made clearhis opinionthat the known forests in theprotectorate at that time, especially the cork forests, were badly degradedanddeforested.Fire,charcoalmaking, debarkingfortannin production,and abusivegrazing-that is most of the indigenous uses of the forests-all were blamedforforest degradation,as they had been by foresters in Algeriaand Tunisia. At thattime, just two years into protectorate administration, only small areas ofnorthwestand eastern Moroccohad been exploredand their forests inventoried.It was not until well after World WarI that the pacification of Morocco wascompleted.The process took two decades and was not officially over until theoccupationof the deepsouth in 1934.Theprocessof exploringandinventoryingMorocco's orests likewise took decades."5

Boudy'spredecessorForestInspector Duponthad been sent fromAlgeriain1911 to evaluate the forests of Morocco and to write an advisory report.Basedpartlyon Dupont'sreport,the protectorategovernmentdecided in 1912 hat theAlgerian forest code of 1903 should be applied, though adapted to Morocco'sconditions. Thusthe Algeriancode was the actingforest codein Morocco or fiveyearsas well as the basis forthe new Moroccan orest codeof 1917.TheAlgerianforest code of 1903 was itself a much-amendedversion of the 1827 Napoleonicforest code of Francethat had been appliedat the time of Algerian conquest in1830. Extensive forest fires in Algeria prompted several changes to the 1827 codeduring the nineteenth century. (Fire was a common tool for managing thelandscape among local Algerians-during the occupation it became a tool ofprotest as well.)As a result of these modifications, the Algerian forest code of1903 was much more restrictive and punitive than the 1827 French code. Itsapplication,which criminalizednearly all indigenous forest uses, caused greatadversityandprotest among localAlgerians.'6Lyautey,who had come to Morocco with years of experience in Algeria,Madagascar, and other French colonial territories, strove to avoid what heperceivedas the pitfalls of previousFrenchcolonialadministrations. One of hisgoalswas to pacify byattraction and notbycoercion and violence as had occurredso often in Algeriaand elsewhere. This meant, in theory, that local custom anduse rights were to be morerespectedand that application of the forest code wasto be less harsh than in Algeria. In setting up the forestry department, then,Lyauteydetermined that "contraryo what happened in Algeria, the Moroccanforestry personnel [wouldhave], in effect, a role exclusively technical."At thisearly date, infractions were to be dealt with by the local authorities and not

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forestry personnel. Most of the changes made to the Algerianforest code as itwas adaptedto Morocco hus related to how and where to applythe code anddidnot modify anyofthe code'sprimarygoalsorecologicalbases.Whereas nAlgeriathe Frenchhadcarriedoutalengthyand difficultprocessofdefiningstateforests,communal forests (for local Algerians), and private forests, in Morocco theadministration simply appropriated ll forested land and defined it as state landto bereservedfor the public goodand the restricted use of a few local tribes. Thiswas mandatedwith a governmentcircular n November 912 that becamelawon7 July 1914. This was followed by the law of 3 January 1916 on auditing anddelimiting state forests.17The Moroccan orestcode,conceivedby Boudyand formalized n October1917,was based on the Algerianforest code, although it was shorter and had changesinmodesandextentof application.Thislegislationitself carried heconventionalFrenchcolonialvision ofthe NorthAfricanenvironment o Morocconmanyways.Although he twocodes weresimilar, he Moroccan ode containedonly 84 articlescompared o 190 articles inAlgeria's orest code. Mostof the fines forinfractionsof Moroccan orest laws, though,were less than those in Algeria.The1917ForestLaw (Dahir) allowed limited use of the forests by Moroccans only, and not byEuropeancolonists, which was a significant change from the Algeriancode. TheMoroccancode severelyrestricted the use of fire in or near forests by the fewlocal tribes allowed to use portions of the forest, and completely banned itelsewhere.Charcoalproductionand the collection of traditional forest productssuch as firewood, foods, and medicinal plants were likewise severely restrictedand regulated.As in Algeria, grazing was expressly prohibitedfor six years inforests that had burned or been harvestedfor cork or timber.Most traditionaluses of the forests, which had previouslysustained entire communities, wererestricted, regulated, or criminalized.'8

Because of the slowprogressionof pacificationin Moroccoand the effects ofWorldWarI,the new forest code was not widely applieduntil the 1920s, and moreextensively after 1935, with the final pacification of the south. In fact, theMoroccanforest code contained a provision with no precedentin any form inAlgeriaorTunisia. This was article two,which stated that the forest code wouldbe appliedto different territoriessuccessively, by governmental decree,as theywere conquered. Areas outside of these decreed territories were covered byseparate governmentrules. Inthe south nearEssaouiraandAgadir, or example,the forest service did not establish a presence until 1920. It was not until 1925that the law was decreedto governthe delimitation andprotectionof the Arganforests in the region, bringingthem under the 1917Moroccan orest code.19As pacification progressedin Morocco,more and more of the forested areaswere explored, inventoried, and eventually brought under the rules andregulations of the 1917 forest code. The initial estimates of about 2 millionhectares of forests in the protectorate were revised during this period ofexpansion. At the end of the protectorate, he forested areas were said to coverapproximately5 million hectares. Estimates of deforestationalso changed overthis period,in extent as well as in modes of calculation.Tracingthese changes

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reveals an interesting history of policy formation at the same time that itilluminates a significant, but overlooked,periodin the history of plant ecology.Duringthese formativeyears of the 1920S and1930S,as the new science of plantecology was being developed, the narrative of environmental decline anddeforestationwasrefined, quantified,and institutionalized in Moroccoby Boudyand others working in the protectorate. What had been rather vaguegeneralizationsaboutdeforestation,overgrazing,andenvironmentaldegradationduring the nineteenth century came to be portrayedas exact, scientific facts.This affected policy in powerfulways.20MAPPING THE POTENTIALONEOFTHEEARLIESTttemptsto quantifyMoroccandeforestationwas madeby forestrydirectorBoudy n 1927 n a lectureto the newrecruits of the indigenousaffairs department (Service des Affaires Indigenes). This department was tightlyallied to the administration and performeda varietyof intelligence services fortheprotectorate.Conferenceswere heldannually or new recruits andthe lecturesserved not only as an introduction to the service but also as indoctrination incorrectways of thinking and acting. Boudy began his lecture by asserting thecrucial role that forests playedin the climatologyandthe economyof a country,emphasizing that a "certainproportionof wood is in effect indispensablefor acountry to actually be inhabitable." The lecture contained numerous suchgeneralizations, which were common in France,Frenchpossessions, and muchof Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. One idea thatBoudy particularly highlighted throughout his career was that pastoralists,especiallynomadicpastoralists, destroyedforests andcaused desertification. Ashe explained to the new recruits, "There xists, in effect, a very tight link betweenSemitic [Arab,not Berber]nomadism andvegetal devastation."Elsewhere n thelecturehestated that "it s scientificallyproven hat the formationof sand deserts... is due to deforestation,the work of ancient nomadic peoples who resort to fireto procurepasture for their beasts."Thisreflected,not surprisingly, he dominantenvironmentalnarrativeof North Africaubiquitousat the time.2'

Following his impassioned introduction, Boudy explained that to be able tosupport "socialorganization,"any given country must have 30 percent forestcover.This ratio is referred o as the ratio ofwoodedness,or the taux de boisement.He then calculated that Moroccohad a rate of woodedness of only about 9 or iopercent.Since he believedit shouldhave,andmust have had in the past, a rate ofwoodedness of 30 percent,he assumedthat the country was approximately wo-thirds deforested.Heblamed hat deforestationon burning,grazing, and clearingland foragriculturebythe indigenous Moroccansover the previous centuries. Ifthis destruction could be controlled, Boudy believed, Moroccohad the potentialto have at least 6 million hectares of forest, three times the amount believed toexist at that time.22

By 1934, the year of the final pacification of the south, forest cover in theprotectoratewas estimated at about 3 million hectares. During the intervening

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222 I ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 1 0 (APRIL 2005)

Figure 3. Imilchil,a Village in the Atlas Mountains.

gs Pe S s.: < s s S::Z~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Xi

Centredes ArchivesDiplomatiques e Nantes,France, ProtectoratFran9ais u Maroc: FondsIconographique."hisimage s reproducedwith he kindpermission f the Ministere es Affaires trang6res,Nantes,France,photobyJacquesBelin.The original caption to this undated photo reads "in an arid and denuded landscape..." The use ofimages such as this with similar captions helped to reinforce the deforestation story throughout theprotectorate period in both popular and official publications.seven years, Boudy had revised his estimate of deforestation in the protectorateup to about 85 percent. He calculated this amount of deforestation in an articleon Moroccan forests that he co-authored with ecologist Louis Emberger for aspecial volume, La Science au Maroc, written for the fifty-eighth meeting of theFrench Association for the Advancement of Science, which was held in Moroccothat year. This estimate of deforestation is detailed further in an article byEmberger on general Moroccan vegetation in the same volume. Embergerestimated that 17 million hectares of forest had been destroyed. He calculatedthis based on the 3 million existing forested hectares and the presumed 20 millionhectares in Morocco that he thought should be naturally forested. In theintroduction to this article Emberger explained that "the traveler who traversesMorocco following the classical paths [itineraries described by ancient writers]comprehends with difficulty the profound physiognomy of Moroccan vegetation..Nothing but ruins! Man aided by flocks has made war on the forest and brutally

exploited it for centuries. Immense areas formerly covered are today bare." Heattributed this massive amount of deforestation, as did Boudy, to centuries ofabuse by Moroccans and their flocks. Boudy worked with Emberger for many yearsand was deeply influenced by his research.23

Emberger was born in France in 1897. He obtained his doctorate in the scienceswith a dissertation on plant cytology in 1921i. In 1923, he was appointed directorof botany at the Moroccan Scientific Institute (Institut Scientifique Che6rifien)and professor at the Moroccan Institute of Advanced Studies (Institut des HautesE~tudes Marocaines) in Rabat. Emberger remained in Morocco until 1936,

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conducted prodigiousresearch,andquicklybecame the pre-eminentecologist inMorocco.In 1936, he returned to France and in 1937was appointedthe chair ofBotany at the Universityof Montpellier,wherehe later founded the prestigiousInstitute of Botany and the influential Centre d'htudes Phytosociologiquesettcologiques (CEPE). mbergermaintained astronginterestin Moroccoand NorthAfrica throughouthis career andpublishedon plant ecology in the region untilhis death in 1969.24

Emberger's esearchon Moroccanvegetation coincided with a periodof greatactivity and advancement in the young discipline of plant ecology. Manyinfluential and formative works in plant ecology were written from the 189osthroughthe 1930s. Conceptsofplantassociations and formationsweredeveloped,many of them basedon mappingrainfall andtemperatureregion byregion,oftenfollowing the work of Alphonse de Candolle,Wladimir Koppenand JohannesWarming.Phytosociology (Frenchplant ecology)was growingin prominenceinFrancewith the work of Josias Braun-Blanquet,Clementsian succession andclimax was gaining groundin Americanecologicalstudies (althoughtherewerecriticsof FrederickClement'sheorysuch as HenryGleason),andArthurTansley'secosystem concepts were being refined in the United Kingdom. It is notuncommonlysaid of the 1900S that "thefirst quarterof this centurywas the ageof the great general theories of vegetation."Emberger'scontribution to thesegeneraltheories has been mostly overlookedexcept in studies of Mediterraneanecology. Here he is nearly universally credited with defining and delimitingMediterranean climate and vegetation zones, called bioclimatic zones. Hispluviometric quotient, which takes into account the effects of temperature,rainfall and evaporationon plant associations, has been especially influential.25Two actors of Emberger'swork arenot widely appreciatedbut areimportantfor both environmentalhistory and environmentalpolicy in Moroccoand morewidely in the Mediterranean basin. The first is that Embergerdefined theMediterraneanbioclimatic zones (etages)on the exampleof Morocco,which hebelieved"alonepossesses thecompleteseries of these stages [zones]."Thesecondfactor is that Embergerdefined all of his five zones in Moroccoby their trees (orpotentialtrees), drawingon his belief in the declensionistnarrativewhich insistedthat Moroccohad beenvastlymore forested in the past. He believedthat even themost arid zone (W'etagemediterraneenaride) naturally had forest vegetation,though "theforests there are usually verythin andcomparable o savannas."Heexplained n his definitivepublicationonMoroccan egetation that his work"hasbeen orientedtowardresearchingthe primitive [naturalorpotential] state of thevegetation, the climax."Emberger ooked in places like religious sanctuaries(marabouts) or this relictvegetation,as MarvinMikesell would do a generationlater.Althoughsuch sanctuaries are often intensivelycared for by humans andnot infrequentlybuilt nearsprings, the vegetation in and around such sites wasassumedto benatural.This is howEmbergerwas ableto estimate that 2o millionhectares in Morocco naturally should be wooded; he inferred from relictvegetationandbioclimatic maps. Such deductions fromrelict vegetation, though,were and arefraughtwith serious problems.26

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Muchhas been learned, however, n the field of paleoecology duringthe lastseveraldecades. Research n this field, especiallyfossil pollen analysis, points tosomedeforestation n a few areas of Moroccobut not in manyothers.Thisresearchfirmly contradicts Emberger's alculations,for it documents no definitive overallpattern of massive deforestation on the order of 66 to 85 percent over the lasttwomillennia.Moreover, lantecologyhas recognizeddisturbances-fire,disease,and erosion for example-as integral parts of the ecosystem.From this point ofview,a single ideal orclimaxvegetation is not the naturalculmination forplantsuccession, because multiple stable states, with very differentvegetation, arepossible dependingon disturbanceregimes. Thus grasses, not trees, may formthe "climax" egetation in manyaridregions andregions with frequentfires orheavy grazing. Experimentalsuccession studies and paleoecologicalresearch,though, were extremely limited in the earlytwentieth century.It was common,therefore, to use relict vegetation, assumed to indicate the remains of naturalvegetation, to reconstruct both past vegetation and potential, or natural,vegetation-in otherwords,what the vegetation should be. This approachhad astronghistoricalprecedentin France and much of Europe.27CharlesFlahault,a professorof botanyat the Universityof Montpellier,wasan early proponentof this approach.He was animportantfigure in the historyofFrenchphytosociology, nfluencingnot only Embergerbut also the better-knownphytosociologist Braun-Blanquet.Flahault worked on Frenchvegetation andespeciallyFrenchforests which, given the existing soil and climaticconditions,he believedwerebadly degraded.Hewrote that "theactual state of the vegetationin our civilized countries no longer represents the primitive[natural] tate ... theprimitivevegetation has disappeared;n all ourmountains, abusive exploitationof wood has modified profoundly the composition and distribution [of thevegetation]."Thus researchersneeded to find "some of the normal elements ofthe primitive associations; thanks to them we can reconstitute [the naturalvegetation]."This general approach o deducing what naturalvegetation shouldbehas informedplantgeographyandecologyin general to the present,especiallyin the form of Braun-Blanquet's egacy,the releve method, which relies on thescientist's selection of what represents the supposedly natural vegetation orecological dominant. This method, although criticized over the years for beingtoo subjective, remains the most widelyused method outside of North Americatoday.28

Embergerstudied with Flahault in 1921 and 1922 before going to Morocco,and he used Flahault's relict approachto vegetation reconstruction.Embergerexplainedin his workthat it is possible "todeducetheprimitive [natural] tate ofvegetation of a site today bare, but where the ecological conditions and,particularly,climate are the same as in the locality with intact vegetation."Embergerbelieved, though, that in Morocco "theactual vegetation cover, overimmense surfaces, representsdegradedstates, the 'miserableremains' of a pastmuch richer and above all morewooded."Moreover,he blamed the ruined stateofvegetation in theprotectorateon the Moroccansand their herds who hadmade"waron the forest andexploiteditbrutallyforcenturies."This led to authoritative

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POTENTIAL FORESTS 225

conclusions such as, "theabsence of redjuniperon the south slopeof the MiddleAtlas cannot be due to anything but the complete destruction of this tree."Theenvironmental narrative of decline so common in Moroccoduringthe periodofFrenchoccupation clearlyinformedEmberger's cientific research. Thus the oldand inaccurate environmental narrativewas especially important in shapingmuch of his research,especially his phytogeographicmap of Moroccopreparedin 1939. This map still is referencedtoday as the definitive bioclimaticmap ofMorocco.Given he climaticconditions,soils, andelevation of any given region,this map deduces what the natural or potential vegetation should be, based onsubjective interpretations of existing and relict (and sometimes absent)vegetation. Emberger's work did more than just incorporate the ubiquitousdegradationnarrative, hough;his research andwritingsrefined,quantified,andfirmly nstitutionalized the declensionist narrative n the science ofplantecologyin Morocco.His work, in particularhis bioclimatic map,very quickly becamewidely influential and formedthebasis fornumerouscalculations of forest coverand deforestation in the protectorate.CitingEmberger's 939map,an influentialbotanist wrote in 1941,forexample,that "Morocco ad, duringthe Romanepochpossibly 65 to 70% of its surface covered n forests."29Emberger'sresearch and especially his exaggeratedestimates of naturally(potentially)forested regions of Morocco(and thus deforestation rates),had aprofound nfluence on the directorof forestry,PaulBoudy.Thoseestimates gavehimthe authorityof science to legitimize his pre-existing views on the forests inMorocco.This becomes clear in the first volume of his magisterial four-volumeseries, tLconomieForestiere Nord-Africaine. Although published in 1948,importantparts of the volume on the human andphysical milieu werecompletedby 1941,only two years after Emberger'smap of bioclimatic regions appeared.Boudy devoted significant space in this tome to introducing and discussingEmberger's tages. He laudedtheir precision,writing that "Emberger'smethodprovides .. aprecise scientific base forclassifying diversetypes of forests."Boudythen used the Embergermethod and map to calculate the amount of forest thathad disappearedsince classical times "bypureecology." n this section, Boudycalculated hatabout9.5millionhectares shouldnaturally/ecologically ecoveredwithforestsalthough onlyabout4.8 millionhectaresactuallywereforested.Thushe concludedthat Moroccowas approximately ifty percentdeforested.30Adozenpages later,Boudyprovideda detailedhistoryanddescription of howthis deforestationhadproceededoverthe last twothousand years, since the timeof "Roman Africa." This section reads like a textbook description of theconventionalenvironmentalnarrativeof NorthAfricaas conceived underFrenchadministration-with facts, figures, andmapsadded.Boudybeganbysuggestingthat, according to ecological science, all of the areas that should be forestednaturallywere forestedduringRomantimes. Although he conceded some forestdestruction in NorthAfrica fromaboutthe fifth century,he placedthe majorityof blame onthe eleventhcenturyArab nvadersandtheirdestructiveherds, oftenciting IbnKhaldoun.This"army f locusts,""thisplunderingandanarchichorde,""had he effect of intensifying the practice of nomadism ... and of transforming

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the country into desert." He highlighted additional causes of deforestation inMorocco, including the construction of greatcities such as Fez andMarrakech,the tanning industry,and the presumeddestructiveness of the numerousgoats.There s little doubt hatBoudybelievedthe conventionalenvironmentalnarrativeof decline for NorthAfricaand Morocco.WithEmberger's ewecologicalresearch,he also now was able to justify the old narrative with "scientific facts." In thisway,Boudywas apivotalactorin refining, institutionalizing, andamplifyingthedeclensionist narrative.31RESTORINGTHERANGEBOTH BOUDYAND Emberger were strongly influenced by this dominantenvironmentalnarrative, and in turn their scientific stories of deforestationreinforced and rationalized the French colonial vision of the Moroccanenvironmentas deforested, overgrazed,and degraded.Whathad been largelyaliterary story of generalized environmental decline became by about 1940 ascientific story completewithecologicalstatistics andmapsthathelpedto justifypolicy making. The influence of this narrative reached beyond the realm offorestry,however, o the policies andworkof the livestockandrange department,which governedmost of the non-forested areas of the protectorate.Notably, heforestry department itself played a large role in the environmental policiesdeveloped n the livestock andrange department.Boudy'searly convictionof the terrible damage inflicted by livestock grazingin the forest had a strong impact on forest policy but also influenced livestockand range management. This negative view of grazing was held widely in theprotectoratebyadministrativeofficials andcolonists alike. Grazing n the forest,andespeciallythe practiceof transhumance/migration,a centuries-oldpastorallivelihood tool, was seen as the greatest cause of deforestation in Moroccoandtherefore as the greatest threat. UnderBoudy'sdirection, the forest code wasamendedin 1921 with a new provision regulatingthe right andusage of pasturewithin forested areas. The 1921 amendment limited grazing rights to the"traditionalusers"of the forests, thereby effectively regulating transhumance.Thetraditional users were defined as members of Moroccan ribes who lived inthe territories where the forests were located or who had had use rights to theforestfor a very long time. The definition of the traditionalusers eliminated argenumbers of local people and animals who had actually been using the forests,because the French"fossilized" he Moroccan ribes.32Thenumbersoflivestockwere strictly limitedby defining the size of the familyherdallowed to grazetax-freein the forest. Although the relief from taxes was abenefit, the family herd could, according to the new law, include no more thanfive cows and fifteen sheep, and no goats or camels. Typicalherds in much ofMorocco,especiallyof sheep and goats, were much larger than this. The family'sotheranimals also could graze,if the annual limits were not exceeded, but theyhadto paya fee per head of livestock to be admitted.These annual limits, in turn,dependedon the forest service's annualassessment of the state of the vegetation

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in each forested area (le possibilite en herbe).Grazingstill was limited to areasjudgeddefensible and the routes throughwhich the livestock could travelto getto the permitted sections of forest were strictly delimited and monitored.Furthermore, he users had to reapplyeachyearfor the rightto grazetheir herdin their traditional forest. Livestockgrazedin the forests were also subjectto thetertib,the agricultural-productionax. Overall, his resulted in a largereductionin numbers of livestock grazed and diminished rural Moroccans' abilities tosupport basic family needs.33

Whereas fire and incendiarism had been the biggest problems facing theforestryadministration in Algeria,grazingwas consideredthe biggest problemin Morocco.Accordingto Boudy,grazing was "the nerve center of the forestquestionin NorthAfrica."His solution to the problemwas to combinerepressionand technicalorganization,and"surveillance, ndconsequentlyrepression,mustcontinue to be exercised in the most active fashion." During the 1930S thegovernment paid heightened attention to the issue of transhumance, amongpastoralists in Morocco and its assumed contribution to overgrazing.In 1934,new regulations officially reduced the territories and rights of usage of mobilepastoralists and reduced the numbers of stock that could migrate in severalregions. This followed not only the final pacification of the protectorate-specifically the conquest of the south with its high proportionof nomads-butalso increased concern aboutthemigrationsof livestock inAlgeriaandin France.This decade saw the publication of many articles on the subject, almost all ofwhich argued for the diminution if not the elimination of transhumance inAlgeria,France,and Morocco, argely for environmentalreasons. Where it wasthought that migration could not be eliminated quickly,strict surveillance andcontrol over all movements were considered essential. In 1939, the governmentofficially acknowledged"that the goal to attain is the progressive extinction oftranshumance."34

Forestry policies thus overlappedwith and influenced policies governinglivestockraisingandrange management n Morocco.The departmentof livestockraising, le Service de l'tlevage, a subsidiaryof the agriculturedepartment,wasfounded in 1913, the same year as the forestry department. Until 1930, it wasdirectedby veterinarycolonelTheophileMonod,a good friend of Lyautey's.LikeBoudy,Monodwas bornandeducatedin France,had manyyears of experience inAlgeriaandelsewhere in greaterFrance,andstayed active in an official advisorycapacityafter his retirementuntil his death in Casablanca n 1942.In the earlyyearsthe departmentwas concernedprimarilywith infectious livestock diseasesandthe immense task of trying to transformsubsistence production,especiallyof sheep andcattle,into commodityproduction.Towardhat end, the departmentworked to intensify and "improve"ivestock raising to producemore meat andmilk as well as wool of a higher quality, which would appeal to the Frenchconsumer.This involvedimprovingnutrition, providing shelter from heat andcold, and reducing physical exertion, especially reducing mobility over longdistances.This mode of livestockraising was completely foreign to the majorityof Moroccansubsistence producers; t was also muchmore expensive.35

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This sort of intensive livestockproduction,which could be accomplished n asmaller area with less movement,wasthoughtto benecessaryas theprotectoratedevelopedits agricultureand forest sectors. Just as large areas of the forestsincreasinglywerebeing protectedfromgrazing,moreand more land was beingbroughtundercultivation,much of which previouslyhadbeen used as seasonalpasture land. Thus the livestock department worked in cooperation with theforestry and agriculturedepartments.It also had to adaptto the changes wroughtby forest policies that progressivelydecreasedpasture land and transhumancein the forested areas of the country.In1928,forexample,grazingwas restrictedon two million hectares of primepastureland when these areas- dominatedbyalfa grass (Stipa tenacissima)-were placed under the control of the forestrydepartmentand newlegislationregulatingtheiruse waspromulgated. ntheearly1920S the livestock department also became responsible for pasture (range)improvement.As Monodexplained,the livestock service was chargedwith theamelioration of the whole environment in which animals were raised andtherefore "also with obtaining the reconstitution of pastures." Thus thedepartmentorganized,run,and staffedbyveterinarianswasresponsible for whattodaywe call rangemanagement.A vast majorityof the land in the protectoratenot under cultivation, not in forested areas, and not in urban or village areas,was used for grazing livestock and frequentlywas subjectto the policies of thelivestock and range department.36Within a decade of the establishment of the protectorate, he livestock andrange department was implementing many policies to reconstitute pasturesassumed to be degraded.Theconventionalenvironmentalnarrative s evident inthis sector as wellwith numerousreferences to the natural fertility of Moroccanpastures that hadbeen degradedbythe "improvidence f the natives,"especiallytranshumants and nomads.Although pasture degradation neverwas as tightlyquantified as the amount of deforestation was in the 1930S and1940s, it was thetarget of dire claims made by the department.Techniques to reconstitute andrestorethe range thus wereimplementedwidely, ncludeddelimiting exclosuresfor forage reserves, seeding pastures with forage species, creating cactusplantations in hyper-aridregions and irrigated alfalfa pastures in areas withaccess to irrigationnetworks, and acclimatizing exotic forage species. Later inthe protectorate, oreign(presumedbetter) forageshrubssuch as Australiansalt-bush (Atriplex)were planted to improve pastures. Pastures improvedby thosemeans,though,oftenrequiredpaid permitsbeforeentry wasallowed,and grazingwas restricted and regulated. Many attempts at improvement failed whenimportedplants did not growwell.37Most ofthese measuresdiscouragedmobility.Theyrequired ime,money,and/or work spent in a single location; that is, they encouraged, and sometimesenforced,sedentarization.Most of these so-called mprovementswere in completeoppositionto the primarygoals of subsistenceherders.Thesegoals include highmobility andhardy ivestock,which, though often lowproducers,allowflexibilityof resource use in an unpredictableenvironment. The overridingprotectorategoal of security helped to reinforce the transformation from a nomadic/

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transhumantmode of production to a sedentarymode. The livestock and rangeservice workedmoreclosely with the military andintelligence services than didthe forestry service. Overthe course of the protectorateperiod,the policies ofthe forestry and livestock departmentsgreatly curtailed-sometimes brutally-the traditional modes of livestock production,both nomadic andtranshumant.As a result, an untold numberof local Moroccans ost their livelihoods andmanymigrated to the shanty towns of the growingcities.38The delimiting, improving, and policing of pasture lands was not ascomprehensiveor as detailed as similar activities were in forested areas. Thepolicies and work of the livestock and range department,however,did help toextend the environmental narrative-and many of the goals developed in theforestry department-to much of the rest of the protectorate.And as it had in theforestrysector,thenarrativeserved colonialinterests in the livestock sector morethanindigenous interests.Inthis sector,the combinationofpoliciesencouragingintensification, veterinary public-health aws,andrange-managementpracticesthat enforced sedentarization, privileged commodity productionby Europeancolonists overthe subsistence productionof local Moroccans.This hadthe addedbenefit, in the eyes of the militaryandpartsof the administration,of controllingthe nomadsandother mobileherderswhowereperceivedas a threat to the state.Those in need of labor also benefited. By incrementallydeprivingMoroccanpastoralistsandagro-pastoralistsof the abilityto supportthemselveswith forestproducts andlivestock, the government'spolicies createda vast pool of laborforthe expanding export-oriented agricultural venture that defined Moroccancolonialism. Suchlaborwasnecessarysince,bythe end of the protectorateperiod,an estimated 77 percent of the best agriculturalland was in the hands of theEuropeans,mostly in large farms requiringmany workers.The deforestation/degradationstorywas invokedheretoo,with an ironictwist. As Boudyexplainedin 1927to the young recruits of the government's ndigenous affairsdepartment,theArganforest (insouthwesternMorocco)must be saved, for "if theargan[tree]disappears,the regionwill returnto its true steppedestination oreven to desert;with it will be driedup the great human reservoirof Morocco,whichfeeds withmanpower he rest of the country."39CONCLUSIONALTHOUGHOTCATEGORIZEDs environmentalpolicies during the colonialperiod, the policies and practices of the forestry and livestock departmentsdevelopedand applied most of the rules governing Morocco'senvironment formorethan forty years.40This article has argued that a questionablenineteenth-century declensionistenvironmentalnarrativeof NorthAfricaprofoundly hapedenvironmentalpolicies in protectorateMorocco. tfavored mperial nterests overindigenous interests and helpedto dispossess Moroccansfromtheir lands andlivelihoods. This environmental narrative and many of its attendingenvironmentalpolicies wereretained in the post-colonial periodand still affectMorocco o this day.The1917Moroccan orest code andmost of its amendments

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and relatedpolicies, for example,remain in effect. Thereis a similar legacy inthe livestockand range managementsector where intensification of production,control of grazing, sedentarization, protection of arborealareas, and pasturereconstitution are still the primarygoals. Thewritings of BoudyandEmberger,in particular, still strongly influence environmental research and policyformulation n Morocco.Theirdescriptionsof thenaturalorpotentialvegetation,and their calculations of rates of deforestation (and its causes), are invokedfrequently as scientific proofof the state of the Moroccanenvironment.41

Scholarsof North Africaand the Middle East have been noticeablysilent onthese topics, although many of the problems associated with colonialenvironmental degradation narratives have been exposed for much of sub-SaharanAfrica, parts of Asia, and some other regions.42False environmentalhistories,repressiveenvironmentalpolicies, politicalandeconomicstrugglesoverresources, and interest-laden narratives are now well-recognizedphenomena,particularly in Africa. Although nearly all of this work traces dominantenvironmental narratives to the beginning of the colonial era, few explorethenineteenth century,since most colonial ventures in sub-SaharanAfrica,did notbegin until after the turn of the twentieth century.This article highlights someof the benefits of examining the nineteenth-century precedents of colonialenvironmentalnarratives,especially for formerFrenchAfrican territories.TheMaghrebi territories, specifically Algeria,were held up as "models of colonialinstallation" to be emulated in other French territories.43The influence ofMaghrebi environmental narratives and environmental policies for Frenchcolonial territoriesoutside of NorthAfrica,though,has not been analyzed.Mostintellectual histories of environmental hinking traceideas fromFrench,British,andEuropeanprecedentsto Indian influences andsubsequentlyto sub-SaharanAfrica. My research suggests that the influence of Maghrebi environmentalnarrativesandpolicies forFrenchcolonialAfricahas beenoverlookedand shouldbe explored.44

The Moroccan case also highlights the importance of analyzing potentialvegetation maps and related data sets for their underlying environmentalnarratives.Althougha few authors, namely James Fairheadand Melissa Leach,havementioned the importanceofpotentialvegetation maps in their discussionsof colonialforestry,noone to myknowledgehas conducteddetailedexaminationsof how these mapswereconstructed orby whom.45 ew of these maps havebeenstudied for their accuracy,based on comparisons with contemporaryecologicalor paleoecological data. Potential vegetation maps provided authority fordraconianenvironmentalpolicies during the colonial period as they still do inmuch of the world.Manypotential vegetation maps used today were constructedduring the colonial periodor are based on slightly revised versions of colonialmaps. Potential vegetation maps and related environmental data sets oftenprovidebaselines for work in environmentalremote sensing and geographicinformationsystems (GIS)andthereby influence a large andgrowing numberofenvironmentalprojects, some global in scope.46By examining these maps andthe narratives that often permeate them, we will be better able to expose and

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POTENTIAL FORESTS 1 231

correct outdated assumptions, biases and errors that increasingly lead toenvironmentallydestructive and socially detrimentaloutcomes around he world.Diana K Davis, D.V.M.,Ph.D, is an assistant professor of geography at theUniversityof Texas at Austin. She is currently writinga bookon environmentalhistory and French colonialism in North Africa. Also a veterinarian, she haspublished several articles on Afghan and Moroccannomads and their livestock.

NOTESTheresearch for this paperwouldnot have been possible without the generousfunding of a National Endowmentfor the Humanities SummerFellowship,aswell as aDean'sFellowshipand two FacultyResearchGrants romthe Universityof Texasat Austin.I am indebted to manywhohelpedme at LInstitutdu MondeArabe,Paris, France,and Le Centre des Archivesd'Outre-Mer, ix-en-Provence,France.I am especially grateful for the insight and assistance I receivedfromMarie-JeanneLionnet, ibrarydirector at l'EcoleNationale du GenieRuralet desEaux et Forets, Nancy, France. I would particularly like to thank DamienHeurtebise, at Les Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes, France, for his help.CatherineRegnault at the Musees des Beaux-Artsde Rouen likewise deservesmy gratitude. Finally, I must thank James Housefield, James McCann, andanonymousreviewersof Environmental History, as wellas the editorAdamRome,fortheir constructivecomments on an earlier draft of this paper.i. See, for example,David M.Anderson,Erodingthe Commons:ThePolitics of Ecologyin Baringo,Kenya,189os-1963 (Oxford: amesCurrey,n collaborationwith the OhioUniversity Press, 2002); Thomas J. Bassett and Donald Crummey,eds., AfricanSavannas: GlobalNarratives &LocalKnowledgeof EnvironmentalChange(Oxford:James Currey,2003); James Fairheadand Melissa Leach, Misreading the AfricanLandscape:Society and Ecologyin a Forest-SavannaMosaic(Cambridge:Cambridge

UniversityPress,1996); JamesFairheadandMelissa Leach,ReframingDeforestation:GlobalAnalysesandLocalRealities:Studies in WestAfrica London:Routledge,1998);TimForsyth,CriticalPoliticalEcology:ThePolitics ofEnvironmental cience(London:Routledge, 003); ChristianKull,"Deforestation,Erosion,andFire:DegradationMythsin the EnvironmentalHistoryof Madagascar,"Environmentand History(2000): 423-50; Melissa Leach and Robin Mearns, The Lie of the Land:Challenging ReceivedWisdomon theAfricanEnvironment London: nternationalAfricanInstitute,1996);JamesMcCann,GreenLand,BrownLand,Black Land:An EnvironmentalHistory ofAfrica (Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1999); Roderick P. Neumann, ImposingWilderness:Struggles over Livelihoodand Nature Preservationin Africa(Berkeleyand LosAngeles:Universityof CaliforniaPress,1998);Nancy L.Peluso, Rich Forests,Poor People: Resource Controland Resistance in Java(Berkeleyand Los Angeles:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1992); ThaddeusSunseri, "Reinterpretinga ColonialRebellion: Forestry and Social Control in German East Africa, 1874-1915,"EnvironmentalHistory (2003): 430-51; and Mary Tiffen, Michael Mortimore,andFrancis Gichuki, More People, Less Erosion: Environmental Recovery in Kenya(Chichester:JohnWiley &Sons, 1994).

2. NorthAfrica s used inthis paper o referto Algeria,Morocco,andTunisia,collectivelyalso known as the Maghreb.Research for this article, and a relatedbook project, is

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232 1 ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 10 (APRIL 2005)

based on extensive research in Morocco and in the French colonial archives.Translations from the French are mine unless otherwisenoted.3. PaulBoudy, conomie ForestiereNord-Africaine, vols. (Paris: ditions Larose,1948-

1955).4. P.Christian,L'Afrique ranVaise,L'Empire e Marocet les De'sertsde Sahara(Paris:A. Barbier, Editeur, 1846), 315; J.-A.-N. Perier, Exploration Scientifique de l'Algerie:Sciences M6dicales, 2 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1847), 1:29. For a detaileddiscussion of the developmentand use of this environmentalnarrative,see DianaK.Davis,"DesertWastes of the Maghreb:Desertification Narratives n FrenchColonialEnvironmentalHistoryof NorthAfrica,"CulturalGeographies 2004): 359-87.5. HenriVerne,La Franceen Alg6rie(Paris:CharlesDouniol, 1869), 20; and Service desAffaires Indigenes, Historique de lAnnexe des Affaires Indigenes de Ben-Gardane(Bourg: mprimerieVictorBerthod,1931),13. Contemporary esearch has led manytoconclude that Roman overcultivation was followed by "a phase of relative soilconservation andvegetative regenerationwith the more nomadic land-usesystem oftheArabs." ee BrunoMesserli and MathiasWiniger,"Climate,EnvironmentalChange,and Resources of the African Mountains from the Mediterraneanto the Equator,"Mountain ResearchandDevelopment 1992): 315-36,quoteon 332.6. Both Berber and Arabicbelong to the Hamito-Semitic anguage group,of which theSemitic languages, including Arabic,form a subgroup.Berber is thought to be theoldest language in NorthAfrica,while Arabicwas introduced o the Maghrebduringthe seventh century.7. Foran excellent discussion of the Berberpolicy in Morocco, ee EdmundBurke,"The

Image of the Moroccan State in FrenchEthnological Literature:A New Look at theOriginof Lyautey'sBerberPolicy,"nArabsandBerbers:FromTribe o Nation in NorthAfrica,ed. Ernest Gellner and Charles Micaud(Lexington,Mass.:Lexington Books,1972),175-99. For an enlightening discussion of France's mid-nineteenth-century ideasof its Romanheritage,see Patricia M.Lorcin,"RomeandFrance nAfrica:RecoveringColonialAlgeria'sLatin Past,"French Historical Studies (2002): 295-29; and Perier,ExplorationScientifique.Thequote s fromJeanColin,L'Occupation omainedu Maroc(Rabat: Service des Affaires Indigenes, 1925), 3.8. Christian,L'AfriqueFranVaise, 2; XavierDurrieu,The Present State of Morocco:AChapterof Muslim Civilisation(London:Longan,Brown,Green,andLongmans,1854),49; and MauriceBesnier, "LaGeographie tconomique du Marocdans l'Antiquit6,"Archives Marocaines 7 (19o6): 271-93, quote on 276. Following their occupation ofAlgeria n 1830,the Frencheasily conqueredTunisiain i88i. Theconquest of Moroccoin 1912 was considerablymoredifficult and morecomplicatedpolitically. Fordetails,see EdmundBurke,Prelude to Protectorate n Morocco(Chicago: The University ofChicago Press, 1976).9. MauriceBesnier, G6ographieAncienne duMaroc Paris:Ernest Leroux,1904), 50. Seealso Besnier,"G6ographieconomique,"271.Fora good discussion of the governmentsanctioned Mission Scientifique du Maroc, see Edmund Burke, "La MissionScientifique au Maroc," n Actes de Durham:Recherches Recentes sur le MarocModerne,ed. Paul Pascon (Rabat:B.E.S.M., 979),37-56.A later, separate effort alsosanctioned bythe Frenchgovernmentandorganizedbythe GeographicalSociety, theScientific Explorationof Morocco(Exploration Scientifique du Maroc),produced abotanicalsurveyin 1913, ikelythe first such surveyof the protectorate.Although hissurveyis nearly entirely a long list cataloging the plants of western Morocco, t doescontain traces of the narrative in the preface. See M. C.-J.Pitard, ExplorationScientifiqueduMaroc:PremierFascicule:Botanique(Paris:Masson et Cie,1913).Thisexploratory mission also included studies of the agronomy and zoology of theprotectorate.

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10. Christian, L'AfriqueFranfaise, 52-53; and Besnier, "G6ographie tconomique," 273. Fora detailed study of the developmentof Morocco'sagriculturalsector at this time, seeWillD.Swearingen,MoroccanMirages:AgrarianDreams and Deceptions,1912-1986(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987). Despite numerous studies thatdemonstrate the exaggerations and false aspects of these myths of extreme fertility,closely related ideas continue to drive much of agriculturaldevelopment n Moroccoto this day.Forexamples,see Jean-LouisBallais, "Conquestsand LandDegradation nthe Eastern Maghreb During Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages," in TheArchaeologyofDrylands, d.GraemeBarkerand DavidGilbertson London:Routledge,2000), 125-36; GraemeBarker,"ATale of TwoDeserts: ContrastingDesertificationHistories on Rome's Desert Frontiers,"WorldArchaeology (2002): 488-507; ReneDumont, 7ypes of Rural Economy (London: Methuen, 1957): 164-208; and Brent Shaw,EnvironmentandSociety in RomanNorthAfrica(Aldershot,GreatBritain:Variorum,1995).

11. See footnote 26.12. Auguste Terrier, LeMaroc (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1931), 187. See, also, Jean Celerier,Histoire du Maroc:Sommairedes Le,ons Profess6es au Cours de PerfectionnementduService des Renseignements(Rabat:Directiondes AffairesIndigeneset du ServicedesRenseignements,1921); ndStephaneGsell,HistoireAnciennedel'Afriquedu Nord

(Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1921).13. PaulBoudy,"L'OeuvreorestiereFranc,aise uMaroc," ulletinde laSociete Forestiere

de Franche-Comte et des Provinces de L'Est (1954): 1-10, quote on 2. In addition todirecting the forestry department for approximatelythree quartersof the colonialperiod,Boudy headedthe delicate reorganization of the propertyand land registrydepartment from 1936 to 1939. See Philibert Guinier, "N6crologie: Paul Boudy (1874-1957)," Revue Forestiere Fran,caise (1958): 219-22.

14. AlthoughBoudyapparentlyworked n close agreement with Lyauteyon manyissues,he also opposedLyauteyon at least one occasion by stronglyadvising against givinga concession for exclusive privateexploitationof the Ainleuhforest to a Frenchman,M. de Nucheze: See telegram of 9 March 1922 from Urbain Blanc, Delegue of theResident GeneralLyautey, o Lyautey,Maroc/DAI/Inv.8/319a, Centre des ArchivesDiplomatiquesde Nantes (hereafterCADN).Forinformation on Boudy in Morocco,see letter no. 290 of 23 March 1912, Maroc/dossiers personnels, carton two, CADN,andletter no. 141 of 3 March1913, Maroc/dossiers personnels, carton two, CADN.OnAlgerian cork harvests and revenues, see H. Marc, Notes sur les Forets de l'Algerie(Alger:TypographieAdolpheJourdan, 916).OnMoroccan orest revenues,see Boudy,Economie Forestiere,1:274. See also Gen6ralLyautey,ed. RapportGeneral sur LaSituation du Protectorat du Maroc (Rabat:Residence Generale de la RepubliqueFranqaise au Maroc, 1916).

15. Commentson indigenous land-usepracticesmaybe found in GouvernementG6neralde l'Algerie,Commissiondttudes Forestieres (Alger:ImprimerieTypographique tPapeterieJ.Torrent,1904); and Marc, Notes. Details of Boudy'sarticle are found inPaulBoudy,"LesForetsdu Maroc,"LaRevueGeneraledes SciencesPuresetAppliquees25 (1914): 350-54.i6. Fordetails of the early inspections and decisions regardingMorocco's orests, see"Servicedes Forets,"no date, in Maroc/DAI/Inv. /#iol, CADN.The 1827 Napoleonicforest code was, in turn, an updated version of the 1669 Frenchforest code writtenunderJean-BaptisteColbert,whichhad the primarypurpose of assuringenough woodforthe navy.See GeorgesPlaisance, La ForetFran9aise Paris: dition Denoel,1979);200-202. Thus the 1669 and 1827 French forest codes were written more for economicand political purposes than for environmentalor ecological purposes.Amendmentsto the 1827forest code weremade in France n the nameof environmentalprotection

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234 1 ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY 1 0 (APRIL 2005)

throughoutthe nineteenth century,althoughthe inherently political natureof manyof these changeshas beenrecentlydetailed.See TamaraL.Whited,ForestsandPeasantPolitics in ModernFrance NewHaven:YaleUniversityPress, 2000). Fora discussionof the problemscausedbythe forest code inAlgeria,see DavidProchaska,"Fireon theMountain:Resisting Colonialism n Algeria,"n Banditry,RebellionandSocialProtestin Africa,ed. DonaldCrummey London: amesCurrey, 986); 229-52.17. DanielRivet,however,makes clear how much violence actuallywas used duringthemilitary campaigns of pacification in Morocco. See Daniel Rivet, Lyautey etl'Instauration du ProtectoratFran,ais au Maroc1912-1925, 3 vols. (Paris:tditionsl'Harmattan,1988). The two quotes are from Lyautey,RapportG6neral,419. Legalchanges are detailed in Boudy,EconomieForestiere,1:306-308.i8. See "Dahir ur l'exploitation&conservation des forets,"1917,Maroc/DAI/Inv./31ga,CADN.OnAlgeria, ee TheodoreWoolsey,FrenchForestsandForestry:Tunisia,Algeria,Corsica (New York: John Wiley &Sons, 1917).19. See "Dahir ur l'exploitation,"CADN, ;and Boudy,tconomie Forestiere, : 276-77.20. Forestimates of forest coverat independence, ee A.Metro,"Forets,"nAtlas duMaroc,Notices Explicatives, Section VI,Biogeographie:Foretset Resources Vegetales,ed.Comite de Geographie Rabat:Comitede Geographiedu Maroc,1958).21. PaulBoudy,L'Arbret les For6tsau Maroc,CoursPreparatoire u Service des AffairesIndigenes (Rabat:Residence Generalede France au Maroc, Direction Generale desAffaires Indigenes, 1927), 8; Ibid., 17.This sentence must be considered within thecontextof the distinctionbetweenArabandBerber hatthe Frenchcreated n Moroccoas partof their strategyto divideandrule.Boudyexplainedin the followingsentence

that, "theBerbershaverespectedtheirwoods muchbetter[than the Arab emites] andthey havenot destroyed hemexceptformilitarynecessity."Foranexcellentdiscussionof this Berberpolicy, see Burke,"Imageof the Moroccan State."The final quote isfromBoudy,"L'Arbret les Forets,"o. Forexamplesof commongeneralizationsaboutthevalueof forests inFranceandelsewhere,see JeanBrunhes,LaG6ographieHumaine:Essai de ClassificationPositive,Principeset Exemples Paris:F.Alcan,1910); ClarenceGlacken, Traces on the Rhodian Shore (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University ofCaliforniaPress, 1967); GustaveHuffel, tconomie Forestiere(Paris: LucienLaveur,1919);andGeorgePerkinsMarsh,ManandNature,ed.DavidLowenthal 1864;reprint,Cambridge,Mass:BelknapPress, 1965).22. Boudy,"L'Arbret les Forets," 1-22. It should be noted that many western expertsbelieved at this time that most of the habitableearth was once and should again beheavilywooded.Theconcept of the tauxdeboisementand its importancemaybetracedback to at least the nineteenth centuryin Franceand likely much earlier.A taux deboisement of 30 percentwas the widely acceptedminimum for civilization in Franceand much of Europe.It was appliedto Algeria to make much the same argument infavor of extensive reforestation during the last half of the nineteenth century.SeeGouvernementGeneralde l'Algerie,Commission.23. ForBoudy'sestimates, see PaulBoudy,"LaForetMarocaine,"n LaScience au Maroc,ed. Paul Boudy and P. Despujols (Casablanca: mprimeriesReunies, 1934);191. For

Emberger's alculations,see LouisEmberger,"ApercuGenerale dela vegetationl," nLaScience au Maroc,ed. Boudy and Despujols, 163.24. For details on Emberger's ife, see JacquesMiege, "InMemorium:Louis Emberger,"Candollea 1970):183-87. Embergerwas likely influenced by a Frenchbotanist withlong experience in Algeria, Rene Maire. Maire began botanical investigations inMoroccoearlyin the protectorateperiodandEmbergeraccompaniedhim on many ofhis excursions.WhileMaireandseveralotherbotanists researchedandpublishedonMoroccanvegetation, Embergerwas the first to quantify and map the potentialvegetation and to calculate the extent of presumeddeforestation in the Protectorate.

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25. ImmanuelNoy-Meirand E.van der Maarel,"RelationsBetween CommunityTheoryand Community Analysis in Vegetation Science: Some Historical Perspectives,"Vegetatio 1987): 5-15,quote on 7. Foran overviewof the influence of Emberger'sworkon studies of Mediterraneanecology, see I. Nahal, "TheMediterraneanClimate froma Biological Viewpoint,"n Mediterranean-7ype hrublands,ed. Francescodi Castriand David Goodall NewYork:ElsevierScientific Publishing Co.,1981),63-86.

26. Louis Emberger, "LaVegetation de la Region Mediterraneene: Essai d'uneClassification des GroupementsVeg6taux,"Revue G6neralede Botanique(1930):641-62 and 705-21, quotes on 718, 708; and Louis Emberger, "Apercu Generale sur laVegetation du Maroc. Commentaire de la Carte Phytogeographique du Maroc,"Veroffentlichungen es Geobotanischen nstitutes Rubel n Zurich 1939): 0-157,quoteon 43. ForMikesell'swork,see MarvinMikesell,"Deforestation n NorthernMorocco,"Science 132 (1960): 441-48. Fora discussion of the serious problems of deducing naturalvegetation from relict vegetation in other parts of Africa, see Fairheadand Leach,MisreadingtheAfrican Landscape; nd FairheadandLeach,ReframingDeforestation.27. Forpaleoecological research, see H. F.Lamb,F.Damblon,and R.W.Maxted,"HumanImpacton the Vegetationof the MiddleAtlas, Morocco,Duringthe Last5000 Years,"Journalof Biogeography 1991):519-32;H. F.Lamb,et al., "LacustrineSedimentationin a High-Altitude,Semi-AridEnvironment:The PalaeolimnologicalRecordof LakeIsli, High Atlas, Morocco,"n EnvironmentalChange n Drylands,ed. A.C. Millingtonand K. Pye (NewYork:John Wiley&Sons, 1994), 147-61;H. F.Lamb,U. Eichner,andV.R.Switsur,"An 8,ooo-Year Recordof Vegetation,Lake-leveland ClimateChangefrom Tigalmamine, Middle Atlas, Morocco," ournal of Biogeography 1989): 65-74;and M.Reille,"ContributionPollenanalytiquea l'HistoireHolocenede la vegetationdes Montagnesdu Rif (MarocSeptentrional),"Suppl6mentau Bulletin AFEQ 1977):53-76.Reille's articleprobablyhas received he most scholarly attention,andit showsa greaterdeclinein morespecies thanother fossil pollenstudies in Morocco.Hisstudyis limited, however,because it covered no more than a seventy-five kilometer regionof the Rif Mountains and was not carbon dated. In fact, his dates are mostly inferredfrom the standard environmental history described in this article. For a gooddiscussion of the "naturalness" f disturbance,see Douglas G.Sprugel,"Disturbance,Equilibrium, and Environmental Variability: What is 'Natural' Vegetation in aChanging Environment?"Biological Conservation (1991): i-i8. See, also, Mark A.Blumler,"Biogeography f Land-Use mpacts n the NearEast," n Nature'sGeography:New Lessons for Conservation in Developing Countries, ed. Karl Zimmerer andKenneth Young (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998), 215-36.28. CharlesFlahault,"AuSujet de la CarteBotanique Forestiereet Agricolede France,"Annales de G6ographie (1896): 449-57, quote on 456. For information onphytosociological methods, see Michael G. Barbour,et al., TerrestrialPlant Ecology,3rd ed. (Menlo Park, Calif: Addison, Wesley, Longman, 1999), 213-17.

29. EmbergermarriedFlahault'sdaughter.FirsttwoquotesfromEmberger, Commentairede la Carte," 3-44; Emberger,"ApercuGen6rale," 63;Emberger,"Commentaire e laCarte,"45. Final quote from Charles Sauvage, "La Foret Marocaine,"Bulletin del'Enseignement Public (1941): 235-57, quote on 250.30. Allquotes in this paragraph romBoudy,tconomie Forestiere, 1:290,170, 215. Boudymakes this calculationslightly more clear in his 1958 volume in the series dedicatedto Morocco.See PaulBoudy,Description Forestieredu Maroc,2nd ed. (Paris: ditionsLarose, 1958), 351. Elsewhere in the 1948 volume, however, in a section perhaps writtenearlier,he estimated that Moroccowas 66 percent deforested but did not provide anecologicalcalculation. See Boudy, conomie Forestiere,1:267.This may be a repetitionof what he estimated in 1927. See Boudy,"L'Arbret les Forkts,"2.31. Allquotes in this paragraph rom Boudy,tconomie Forestiere, :226-28.

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32. Forrepresentativestatements on the evils of grazingthroughoutthe colonialperiod,see AugustinBernard,UneMission au Maroc Paris:Le ComiteduMaroc,1904);Boudy,"L'Arbret les Forets";LouisEmberger,"L'ImportanceuChene-Liegedans le PaysageMarocain avant la Destruction des Forkts,"La Revue de Geographie Marocaine (1928):3-6; "La Foret Marocaine," in ttudes Marocaines: Supplement au Bulletind'Informationset de Documentationde la R6sidenceG6n6rale Rabat:La R6sidenceGen6rale de France au Maroc, 1940), 1-28; Boudy, "La Foret Marocaine"; Boudy,tconomie Foresti&re; ommandantEttori,"LeBerbere et le Code Forestier" Centredes Hautes Etudessur l'Afriqueet l'AsieModernes,hereafter CHEAM, npublishedreport,1952); .Souloumiac,"LeProblemeduD6frichementou une PolitiqueForestiereau Maroc" CHEAM,npublishedreport,1947);and J.Souloumiac,"LaDeforestationau Maroc"CHEAM,npublishedreport,1948).Fordetails of the decree on grazinginthe forests, see "ArrWt6iziriel du15Janvier1921Reglant e Moded'Exercisedu Droitau Parcoursdans les ForetsDomaniales,"Maroc/DAI/319a,CADN.Rivet has criticizedthe waythe protectorateauthorities defined Moroccan ribes and tribal boundaries.Heexplains that the tribe becamenot only an administrativeunit, "buta museum ofa network of alliance among men fossilized by the imposition of an external andsovereign system of authority,therefore in the end a fiction."See Rivet, Lyauteyetl'Instauration,202.

33. Limits on the numbersof livestock in a family herd are detailed in Boudy,tconomieForestiere,587. Oneeconomist has explained that the tertib was "nolonger a meretax, but also a political instrument forbreaking down the native andhistoric methodof utilizing the environment."See Melvin Knight, Morocco as a FrenchEconomicVenture:AStudyof OpenDoorImperialism NewYork:D.Appleton-Century o.,1937);49. Thiswastrue of animal as well as plantagriculture n Morocco.As late as 1952,thegovernment still was using this tactic. By raising the tertib (tax) on goats, thegovernment sought to discourage goat production and increase sheep production,based on its fears that goats cause deforestation. See Maroc/DAI/#591,CADN.34. First two quotes are from Boudy, tconomie Foresti&re, :627-68.Forregulations ontranshumance,see CommandantRuet,"LaTranshumancedans le MoyenAtlas et laHauteMoulouya"CHEAM,npublishedreport,1952);6. Forexamples of argumentsto reducetranshumance,see LeonLehureaux,"Comment 'EffectueActuellement laTranshumance," L'Union Ovine, 5 May 1930:189-91; Antonin Rolet, "LaTranshumanceen France:Ses Difficult6s,"L'UnionOvine,5 September1930:386-89; and MauriceRondet-Saint, "UnProbleme a Resoudre en Afrique du Nord:le Nomadisme,"LaD6peche Coloniale i8 December 1931: 1. Strict surveillance was advocated byVet6rinaire-MajorGadiou,"LaSituation tconomique du Sous,"Revuede G6ographiedu Maroc (1927): 137-65; and Lehureaux, "Comment s'Effectue." See Ruet, "LaTranshumance," , for the 1939 government decision on transhumance.Althoughovergrazinganddeforestationweregiven as the primaryreasons that transhumancewas a problemand needed to be stopped, the state also was interested in controllingor eliminating transhumance for reasons of security and quelling the rising tide ofnationalism in the protectorate.

35. For details on the creation and history of the department,see L. A. Martin,"Avant-Propos:L'Ulevage u Maroc,"MarocMedical(1949):not numbered.Monod'spersonalinformationmaybefound in "FeuilletduPersonnel,"Dossier8.752, ServiceHistoriquede l'Armeede la Terre hereafterSHAT).36. Fordetails on the 1928 alfa grass reclassification, see Boudy,tconomie Forestiere,1:288. QuotefromVeterinaireColonelTheophileMonod,"L'tlevageau Maroc:CoursPreparatoire" (Rabat: Service des Affaires Indigenes, 1927), 10.37. Descriptionsof the improvidenceof the natives may befound in Service de l'tlevagedu Maroc,"Historiquedu Service de l'tlevage du Maroc: es Attributionset son Role

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dansl'tconomie duPays,"MarocM6dical 1949):471-74;TheophileMonod,"L'ElevageauMaroc,"n LaRenaissance du Maroc:DixAns deProtectorat, d. ResidenceG6neralede la R6publiqueFrancaise au Maroc(Rabat:Residence Generalede la R6publiqueFrancaise au Maroc, 1924), 294-306; and Monod, "L'tlevage au Maroc." Service del'tlevage du Maroc,"HistoriqueduService," 72, providesdetails of the techniquesofpasture reconstitution.Because of the aridconditions in muchof MoroccoandNorthAfrica, pollen analysis is not possible for parts of the country and thus somereconstruction of vegetation andestimates of past vegetation are still hypotheticaltovarying degrees.38. See GudrunDahl and AndersHjort,Pastoral Herd Growthand HouseholdEconomy,vol. 2 (Stockholm:Departmentof Social Anthropology, 976),for a discussion of thegoals of subsistence pastoralists.Thetraditional mode of extensive, mobile livestockproduction s well adapted o the aridNorthAfrican/Mediterranean nvironmentandis often the most efficient and environmentallyfriendlymode of resource use. SeeMichael B. Coughenour,et al., "EnergyExtraction and Use in a Nomadic PastoralEcosystem,"Science (1985):619-25;Avi Perevolotsky,and No'amSeligman, "RoleofGrazing n MediterraneanRangelandEcosystems,"BioScience (1998): 1007-17; MarkA. Blumler, "Successional Pattern and LandscapeSensitivity in the MediterraneanandNear East," n LandscapeSensitivity,ed.DavidS. G.Thomas and RobertJ.Allison(Chichester:JohnWiley&Sons Ltd.,1993), 287-305;andIanScoones, ed., LivingwithUncertainty:NewDirectionsin PastoralDevelopment nAfrica(London:ntermediateTechnologyPublications,1995).Onrelations with the military,see Servicedel'Elevagedu Maroc,"Historiquedu Service";V6terinaireColonelTh6ophileMonod,"LeRole duVeterinaire Colonial," La TerreMarocaine (1931):4-15;and Monod, "L'Elevageau Maroc."39. Boudy, "L'Arbret les Forets,"40-41. For a discussion of the transfer of agriculturalland to Europeans,see Swearingen,MoroccanMirages,143-44.40. Even national parkswere created under the authority (andtherefore the policies) ofthe forestry departments n Algeria,Morocco,andTunisiaduring the colonialperiod.See Diana K. Davis, "Environmentalismas Social Control?An Exploration of theTransformationof Pastoral NomadicSocieties in French ColonialNorthAfrica,"TheArab World Geographer (2000): 182-98.

41. Forrepresentative amples,see M.Barbero, t al., "Changes ndDisturbancesof ForestEcosystems Caused by Human Activities in the Western Part of the MediterraneanBasin," Vegetatio (1990): 151-73;Abdelmalik Benabid, Flore et tcosystemes du Maroc:tvaluation et Pr6servationde la Biodiversite (Paris:Editions Ibis Press, 2000); J. R.McNeill, The Mountains of the Mediterranean World:an Environmental History(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1992);SOMADE, d., La Foret Marocaine:Droit, Economie,Ecologie(Casablanca:AfriqueOrient,1989); J.V.Thirgood,Man andtheMediterraneanForest:AHistory of ResourceDepletion (London:AcademicPress,1981); and DanielVaxelaire,ed., LaGrandeEncyclop6diedu Maroc Rabat:GEI, 987).

42. See note i, above.43. AugusteChevalier,L'Agronomie olonialeet leMuseumNational d'HistoireNaturelle:Premieres Conf6rences du Cours sur les Productions Coloniales Veg6tales &l'AgronomieTropicale Paris:Laboratoired'AgronomieColoniale,1930), 2.44. See, for example,RichardH. Grove,GreenImperialism:ColonialExpansion, TropicalIsland EdensandtheOriginsof Environmentalism, 6oo-i86o (Cambridge: ambridgeUniversityPress, 1995);and FairheadandLeach,ReframingDeforestation.Grovehintsat the importanceof the Algerian case andnotes that it remainsunderanalyzed n hisbook Ecology,Climateand Empire:Colonialismand GlobalEnvironmentalHistory,1400-1940 (Cambridge:White HorsePress, 1997),193-213.45. Fairheadand Leach,ReframingDeforestation,164-170. See also Kull,Deforestation,429.

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46. Forexcellent discussions of manyof the problemscausedbythese newenvironmentaltechnologies, see Paul Robbins,"FixedCategories n aPortableLandscape:TheCausesandConsequencesof Land-Cover ategorization," nvironment nd PlanningA(2aoo):161-79; and Matthew D. Turner, "Methodological Reflections on the Use of RemoteSensing and Geographic nformationScience in HumanEcologicalResearch,"HumanEcology (2003): 255-79.

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