Iriqui National Park was set up in 1994 as a national park in Morocco with 123,000

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

Location

Iriqui National Park occupies the space between the Draa River and the South foothills of the Anti-Atlas, in the provinces of Zagora and Tata.

Flora and fauna

The park is characterized by typical desert landscape of southern Morocco. The vegetation is represented by a wooded steppe and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

with acacias. Some of its dunes are covered by

tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...

. During wet periods, Lake Iriqui becomes a temporary wetland and a port of call and wintering site for many migratory water birds, including

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...

s and

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

, which gives the park an important ecological character. The rehabilitation of the wetland was one of the main objectives, when the park was created. In the park there are

houbara bustard The houbara bustard (''Chlamydotis undulata''), also known as African houbara, is a relatively small bustard native to North Africa, where it lives in arid habitats. The global population is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2014. ...

North African ostrich The North African ostrich, red-necked ostrich, or Barbary ostrich (''Struthio camelus camelus'') is the nominate subspecies of the common ostrich from West and North Africa. It is the largest subspecies, making it the largest living bird. Evolu ...

es,

barbary sheep The Barbary sheep (''Ammotragus lervia''), also known as aoudad (pronounced �ɑʊdæd is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus ''Ammotragus'', six subspecies have been descri ...

dorcas gazelle The dorcas gazelle (''Gazella dorcas''), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about at the shoulder, with a head and body length of and a weight of . The numerous subspecies survive on vegeta ...

oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which ...

es and striped hyenas.Sylvie Jourjon
L’Oasis Sacrée d’Oum Lâalag.
5 December 2012 (French). There is also a large number of reptiles such as lizard, horned vipers, monitor lizards, chameleons, geckos and different varieties of snakes.

Human population

The region has a few families settled inside the park, The Iriqui area is the main place for grazing because of its good grazing potential.

Tourism

The rich landscape and cultural heritage of the region gives the park an important ecotourism potential that will be a lever for local economic development. Its establishment is part of a strategy to boost tourism in southern Morocco, which might become ultimately an important lever for the promotion and development of the Saharan areas.

References

{{authority control National parks of Morocco Geography of Souss-Massa Protected areas established in 1994 Biosphere reserves of Morocco Ramsar sites in Morocco 1994 establishments in Morocco