Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, President of Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired on May 28, the award ceremony for the fourth edition (2022) of the Lalla Hasnaa Sustainable Coastline Trophies at Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training in Bouknadel, rewarding initiatives that have contributed to the protection of coastline and oceans.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa watched an opening film and a video clip entitled “Manifesto,” performed by actor, director, and playwright Ismail El Fellahi.
Her Royal Highness attended the screening of several videos relating to the “#B7arblaplastic” (plastic-free sea) campaign and the Lalla Hasnaa Sustainable Coastline Awards, as well as a video tribute to the late artist Mohamed “Mao” Bennani, creator of the Lalla Hasnaa Sustainable Coastline Awards.
On this occasion, Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa presented the 2022 Lalla Hasnaa Sustainable Coastline Trophies to winners in the categories of “Clean Beaches,” “Sharing and Living Environment,” “Protection, and Enhancement of Natural Heritage,” “Education, and Youth,” and “Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility.”
The “Clean Beaches Program” trophy, which rewards an initiative in favor of one or more beaches, in terms of management, development, preservation, education and information, was awarded to seven initiatives.
These initiatives are the Holmarcom Group (Cleanliness Brigade: Na9iw B7arna); Crédit Agricole and Association Arimal Dahabia (Boundi Family Competition); OCP, Safi site (Supervision and Mobilization of local associations at Souiria K’dima beach); Fondation Banque Populaire (Installation of a trash fish to spread awareness about plastic waste recycling); Marsa Maroc (Citizen mobilization in Ain Diab Mme Choual beach); Redal and Zero Waste Skhirat Association (Recycling fishing nets left on the beach into useful objects); and Ciments du Maroc (Sayfok Village on the Safi Municipal beach).
The “Sharing and Living Environment” Trophy was awarded this year to five initiatives, namely Marjane Diving and Water Sports Association and Redal (Underwater Sports Festival), Association Essalam – Dakhla (Observatoire du littoral de la région de Dakhla de Oued Ed-Dahab), Tangier Diving and Maritime Sports Association (Operation Pelican to clean up the seabed); the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE)-Branch electricity and TC Travel (Paving stones and ecological bricks); and Cohin-Environnement (Waste Water Box, Ghazoua wastewater treatment plant).
Meanwhile, the “Protection and Enhancement of Natural Heritage” Trophy, which recognizes achievements in improving knowledge of the coastline and conserving its biodiversity and fragile ecosystems, and initiatives to control threats to the safety and integrity of the Moroccan coastline was awarded to seven projects.
These projects include Abdelmalek Essaadi University (Development of models for monitoring emerging contaminants in the coastal waters of the Mediterranean); the Association of sea lovers for underwater fishing and environmental conservation (The Blue Dolphin); Mohammed I University in Oujda and the Tes Green Morocco Association (Setting up a unit to raise awareness and study microplastic pollution); the Champions Fnideq underwater hunting association (“Maroc marin” platform on marine biodiversity in Morocco); Science Faculty in Ain Chock- Hassan II University in Casablanca (Use of seaweed washed up on the Moroccan coast for organic farming); Chouaib Doukkali University (Enhancing the value of invasive seaweed by extracting biopesticides); and the Khnifiss Association network (Ecotourism valorization of the biodiversity of the Khnifiss National Park through the creation of a Moroccan Atlantic Sahara bird observatory).
As for the “Education and Youth” Trophy, which rewards the best environmental education actions, projects, studies, research or programs carried out by schools, high schools, university institutions, research centers, and public and private organizations, it was awarded to nine projects, namely Redal and the Petits Débrouillards Association; Bahri Association (Clean and Play); Saidia-Groupe Development Company Société (Happy Walls: ecological art); the Municipality of Fnideq and the Champions Fnideq underwater hunting association (Environmental incubator in educational establishments); BMCE and Zero waste Skhirat (Installation of a beach library at casino plage); An-Najah school support Association for Ark school (Tales to build civic behavior towards coastal preservation); Polydisciplinary Faculty of Safi- Cadi Ayyad University (Sea Mun Safi Model United Nations Maritime); the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water (ONEE)- water branch (Awareness-raising and introduction to the profession of water quality control); and the National Airports Office (An exhibition on the beach to raise awareness of the effects of plastic waste on the coast and ocean).
The “Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility” Trophy, dedicated to initiatives by economic operators who integrate an environmental, social, or economic approach with a positive impact on the Moroccan coastline, was awarded to seven initiatives.
These initiatives are Tanger Med Foundation and the Sahel Association for Development and Culture (support for people with special needs); the cultural influence Association (youth initiatives for a sustainable Coastline); the Agir Association (the Odyssea Iliad Agir marine observatory); the Alhad Aljadid Association for traditional and communal fishing in Fnideq (cleaning up the port of Fnideq and protecting marine life); Doralo aquaculture cooperative (Promoting aquaculture among fishing cooperatives); STMicroelectronics (Protecting the environment and moving towards sustainable development); and Taghazout resort development and promotion company (SAPST-CDG Group) (Taghazout Bay and sustainable tourism).
Her Royal Highness then took a souvenir photo with the winners of these trophies.
For the fourth edition, the Lalla Hasnaa Sustainable Coastline Trophies extended their scope of interest to the oceans, and are now officially registered as a full-fledged activity of the Decade of Ocean Science by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, reflecting the Foundation’s commitment to preserving the ocean, under the leadership of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa.
The fourth edition was a great success, with a sharp rise in the number of applications compared to the last edition, and with several projects addressing topical issues such as the impact of climate change, plastic pollution, and the protection of biodiversity.
Others showed real creativity in the development of pollution mitigation devices, while university research was mobilized to study and protect natural heritage and to raise young people’s awareness of the environment and the oceans, creativity, and, above all, interactivity.
Later on, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa visited the “Seconde vie” (second life) exhibition, which showcased the most outstanding projects carried out as part of this fourth edition, including fishing nets (Doralo aquaculture cooperative), carpets woven from recycled plastic (Redal and Zero Waste Association), and ecological paving stones and bricks (ONEE- electricity branch and TC Travel), before chairing a reception in honor of the participants.
Upon her arrival, HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa was greeted by the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, the Wali of the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region, Mohamed Yaacoubi, President of the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra regional council, Rachid El Abdi, Governor of the Salé prefecture, Omar Touimi, President of the Salé Prefectural Council, Noureddine Lazrak, Deputy Vice-president of Ameur communal council, Belghazia Esskat, and President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Chakib Alj.
Her Royal Highness was also greeted by the partners of Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, namely Minister of Equipment and Water, Nizar Baraka, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Khalid Ait Taleb, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts, and Social and Solidarity Economy, Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Transport and Logistics, Mohamed Abdeljalil, Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, the Wali, Secretary-General of the Ministry of the Interior, Mohamed Faouzi, Director-General of the National Water and Forest Agency (ANEF), Abderrahim Houmy and members of the Foundation’s Board of directors (BoD).