The Rosemary of the Oriental Region: Toward Sustainable Governance Between Local Participation and Institutional Steering

¹ Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory in Economics, Finance and Management of Organizations (LIREFM), Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (USMBA) – (FSJES), Fez, Morocco.
² PES USMBA-FSJES, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Economie, Finance et Management des Organisations-Fès Maroc.

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

This article offers an analysis of the dynamics surrounding the management and valorization of rosemary stands in Morocco's Oriental region, based on a documentary review of institutional reports, expert missions, and field studies. The aim is to understand to what extent the governance framework—built on partnership contracts between the forestry administration and local cooperatives—effectively contributes to the construction of a shared territorial project that reconciles ecological sustainability, social resilience, and economic valorization. The analysis highlights the progress achieved as well as the limitations of a model still largely driven from the top down, through three lines of inquiry: the nature of the relationship between forest cooperatives and the administration, the scope of the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) in a territorial development perspective centered on a specific resource, and the actual pursuit of socio-ecological sustainability of the rosemary stands within this governance framework.