EVENT INFORMATION
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1st National Conference on Pastoral Transhumance in Morocco
1ère Conférence Nationale sur la Transhumance Pastorale au Maroc
Date(s):
15-16 /11/2026
Location:
Commune Oum Errabia — Province of Khénifra — Béni Mellal-Khénifra Region — Morocco
(Heart of the Moroccan Middle Atlas)
Organiser:
Tifsa Atlas Association for Sustainable Development (T.A.S.D)
Initiative: « Agdal for Nomadic Pastoralism »
Contact:
Mohamed Souhassou, President
Email: tifsa.atlas@gmail.com
Phone: +212 629 267 408
Location: Agdal, Commune Oum Errabia, Province Khénifra, Morocco
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DESCRIPTION
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The Tifsa Atlas Association for Sustainable Development (TASD) is proud to organise the 1st National Conference on Pastoral Transhumance in Morocco, taking place on 15–16 October 2026 in Commune Oum Errabia, Province Khénifra — in the heart of the Moroccan Middle Atlas, a region home to one of Africa's richest pastoral heritage systems.
This Conference is the founding milestone of the national programme to document and safeguard Moroccan pastoral transhumance and the Agdal system — a centuries-old traditional governance mechanism for collective rangeland management, practised by 15,000 to 20,000 pastoral households across the Middle Atlas. Despite its exceptional richness, this living heritage remains entirely absent from the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, while European transhumance was inscribed in 2019.
The Conference directly serves the goals of IYRP 2026 by:
• Documenting and valorising the traditional pastoral knowledge of indigenous Amazigh communities (the first documentation of this scale in Morocco)
• Building a national scientific and policy network around pastoral transhumance and the Agdal system
• Formulating concrete public policy recommendations for the protection of pastoral spaces in the context of climate change
• Launching feasibility studies for an Atlas Pastoral School and Mobile Green Shelters — innovative economic models for sustaining pastoral livelihoods
• Adopting the 'Oum Errabia Declaration on Pastoral Transhumance' — a national reference document
• Laying the scientific foundation for a national UNESCO inscription candidacy dossier (2027–2028)
Day 1 (by invitation — 100 institutional participants): Scientific sessions with national universities (Moulay Ismail, Al Qadi Ayyad, Mohammed V), Khénifra National Park, the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), associations of sheep breeders, and international experts.
Day 2 (open to the general public): Plenary session on pastoral transhumance and administrative boundaries, a round table on UNESCO candidacy, signing of partnership memoranda, and a heritage cultural evening documenting traditional pastoral music and oral poetry.
Thematic alignment with IYRP 2026 Working Groups:
✓ Indigenous and local knowledge, culture and innovation
✓ Biodiversity and ecosystem services
✓ Climate change and resilience
✓ Pastoralist women and youth
✓ Mobility, land and water security
This Conference also represents Morocco's and Africa's contribution to the ICOMOS World Heritage Transhumance Initiative (2024–2026), addressing the significant gap in African and North African representation in global transhumance heritage recognition.
When
15-16 November 2026
Event Region
Attachments
Category
Conference
12 Themes
Mobility, land and water security;
Biodiversity and ecosystem services;
Climate Change and resilience;
Indigenous and local knowledge, culture and innovation;
Pastoralist women;
Pastoralist youth