Date palms
Matilde Gattoni
The world’s oases are at the forefront of an existential battle against climate change: limited rainfall and rising heat have dramatically affected these unique ecosystems and the culture they sustain. Morocco has lost two-thirds of its oases – lush, fertile areas in the desert – in just a single century.
Local people plead with the desert for water
Matilde Gattoni
Take the town of M’Hamid El Ghizlane, the last stop before the vast, dry expanse of the Sahara. Here, local people plead with the desert for water (pictured above). Dressed in white robes, they regularly meet at the edge of the desert to recite ancestral chants asking for an end to the drought and for life to be brought back to the land.
While droughts have always been part of life here, they used to be intermittent, allowing people to stock food and water to make it through dry times. But the oasis that sustains the community has shrunk over the past few decades, leading to scorched palm trees and threatening centuries of culture and tradition.
A villager feeds his camel with herbs picked in the dry river bed of the Draa.
Matilde Gattoni
The town’s economy has traditionally been sustained by date palms (main picture) and camel herding (pictured above), but with those livelihoods in jeopardy, many are relocating to nearby cities. Those who remain often earn a living through tourism. Former farmers turned self-taught guides offer visitors desert expeditions and tea ceremonies (pictured below) – a glimpse of the life that persists despite the challenges.
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