Structure de recherche: Dynamique Spatiale et Développement Territorial, Laboratoire de recherche: Homme Espace et Développement, Département de Géographie, Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Tétouan, Morocco
The province of Fahs-Anjra is a province characterized by a very significant forest area, a very rich and diversified biodiversity. The environmental problems in the province are multifaceted and continue to take on an uneven scale and manifest themselves on various scales: entire forests are destroyed and species disappear, ecological disasters multiply, water becomes a rare resource whose uses require more and more arbitration, etc.
Faced with the urgency of the ecological crisis, perceived through climate change, natural disasters and the scarcity of natural resources, the concern to control environmental problems through sustainable development has become a global concern, which is growing. over the years. In fact, the degradation of forest space, caused by human activities and climate change, poses major challenges to sustainable development.
Forest fires are the main cause of degradation of these forests; almost a minimum of 200 serious forest fire incidents were recorded between 2008 and 2020, that is to say, an average of 16 fires each year. To deal with forest degradation and monitor their condition, different techniques and methods have been developed for a long time: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) make it possible to georeference observed degradation, and remote sensing, which thanks to satellite images, makes it possible to map plant cover at very varied time and space scales.
The DRASTIC methodology have been aplicated to determine the vulnerability to contamination of groundwater in the unconfined aquifer of R'mel (Larache, Morocco). The variables considered by this method have been mapped using the ARCGIS 9.3 software by mean the scan tool Spatial Analyst. The results were that 70,5% of the aquifer has a very low level of vulnerability; 17,9% low degree of vulnerability; 6,7% a moderate vulnerability, while the remaining 4,8% have no vulnerability. The application of this method was performed for the first time in this area by mean of this study and the results provide a basis for environmental management, land planning and its suitability for different uses and a starting point for future research aimed at protecting the aquifer contamination.