As a side event of the COP22 (2nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) COP22, the Cady Ayyad University, the Faculty of Science of Semlalia and the observatory of palm groves organized an international colloquium entitled “Date palms and oasis – strength and constraints” on 4 and 5 November in Marrakech. During these two days, more than 120 researcher, experts and decision-makers from North Africa, Europe and the Near East exchanged their experience in order to identify actions likely to contribute to the preservation of the date palm ecosystem.

The colloquium was organized around three main topics: 1) diagnosis and constraints of the date palm, 2) strategies for rehabilitation and alleviation of biotic and abiotic stresses and 3) education, communication and inclusion of the local population and of associations to safeguard the oasis ecosystems.

At the end of the first day, Professor Hafidi gave an overview about the different research topics addressed in the fertiledatepalm project, which was very well perceived and attracted positive attention from the audience.