The Institutional Means of Environmental Protection in Morocco

This article analyses the institutional apparatus established in Morocco for environmental protection, in a context where the framework law on environmental protection and enhancement exists only in draft form, making the role of existing administrative structures all the more decisive. The author systematically inventories the environmental competences distributed among the various ministries (Interior, Agriculture, Public Health, Urban Planning, Maritime Fisheries) and specialised bodies, highlighting the institutional fragmentation characteristic of the Moroccan administrative landscape in environmental matters and the absence of a coordinating authority with real intersectoral arbitration capacity. The analysis focuses on the concrete environmental attributions of the Ministry of the Interior — guardian of local authorities — in sanitation, public hygiene, and urban policing, noting that the transfer of competences to local authorities by Decree No. 2-85-364 of 18 April 1985 was not accompanied by a clear redefinition of the central State's role in environmental protection. The author advocates a reorganisation of Morocco's environmental administration based on the creation of a strong interministerial coordination structure, strengthened technical and financial capacities of local authorities in environmental matters, and the urgent adoption of a framework law clearly defining the institutional missions and responsibilities of each actor in the environmental protection system.