On the occasion of World Oceans Day, celebrated globally on June 8th under the 2024 theme “Awaken New Depths,” the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, is organizing a week of activities to raise awareness about the importance of the ocean, a vital space for climate regulation and humanity, which relies on its vast resources.

The Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection has been committed to coastal and ocean protection for over twenty years. Its president, Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, initiated the “Clean Beaches” operation, which will mark its 25th edition in the summer of 2024. She has continuously strengthened her Foundation’s actions for the coast and ocean. The Foundation is a founding member of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030), launched by the United Nations, and Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa is the patron of this decade. The Ocean Week, a major national initiative dedicated to showcasing and exploring the ocean’s riches across Morocco, will be conducted by the Foundation in collaboration with its partners from Monday, June 3rd to Saturday, June 8th, 2024, in eleven coastal cities from Al Hoceima to Dakhla. This event will highlight key sectors such as the blue economy, ocean infrastructure, the circular economy, underwater heritage, and marine science and technology. This initiative is part of the foundation’s ongoing commitment to the global framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

The comprehensive program of activities for Ocean Week, designed for all audiences, will primarily target the educational communities of Eco-Schools and Young Reporters for the Environment, two flagship programs of the Foundation’s Education for Sustainable Development. Over 500 young people from these programs will participate in activities across one of Morocco’s eight coastal regions. In Tangier, they will visit the Tanger-Med port and the scientific vessel Charif Idrissi of the National Institute of Fisheries Research (INRH). They will tour lighthouses in Tangier, Casablanca, and Safi; seawater desalination stations in Al Hoceima, Agadir, and Laayoune; aquaculture farms in Tetouan and Dakhla; and discover the circular economy by visiting waste recycling sites in Tangier, Rabat, and Casablanca.

This year, Ocean Week will introduce participants to the kingdom’s underwater heritage for the first time, with an exhibition of illustrations about the wreck of the Kaiser Wilhelm ship in Dakhla and an underwater archaeological site off the coast of Safi. Furthermore, in collaboration with the Center for Studies and Research in Underwater Heritage, under the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication, the Foundation will announce the discovery of a new historical underwater wreck by a local partner association off the coast of Fnideq.

On June 7th and 8th, the Hassan II International Environmental Training Center will host an exhibition on plastic waste valorization under the slogan “كلشي إلا نلوحو فالبحر.” Ocean pollution by plastic waste has become a global issue, for which the Foundation is highly mobilized. This summer, the Foundation will lead the 5th edition of its “b7arblaplastic” operation, recognized and awarded worldwide for its relevance and quality. The exhibition at the Center, reserved for the Foundation’s Education for Sustainable Development program community on the first day and open to the general public on the second day, will feature about ten awareness stands.

Ocean Week, proposed by the Foundation, is made possible only with the support of its partners, private and public economic operators, public administrations, or civil society associations, who will be mobilized from north to south for a common good: the ocean. The Foundation, alongside them, spreads a message for ocean protection. Eco-school students and Young Reporters for the Environment from different regions will participate in the “Message in a Bottle” initiative, inspired by literature, where a message in a glass bottle is often associated with a call for help from castaways on a deserted island. Participants will place a “message for our ocean” in a glass bottle.

They will also commit to acting during the next #b7arblaplastic campaign, during which tons of plastic waste will be sorted and recycled throughout the summer. The glass bottles, as part of this initiative, will also be accompanied by a video message from each participating school. In collaboration with the Ministry of National Education Preschool and Sports, they will be collected and centralized in Rabat, where the Hassan II International Environmental Training Center will compile them into a global awareness message for the ocean.

The Ocean Week has been endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) as an activity of the Decade.