The “Young Reporters for the Environment” prize honored the best press stories on the environment formulated by high school students affiliated to environmental clubs in partnership with the Ministry of Education, with support from the Fondation Marocaine pour la Nature et l’Homme.

The program entitled “Young Reporters” has the aim of educating young people on local environmental problems. Their mission is to investigate local problems concerning the environment, inform the public by producing a paper version press story in Arabic or French, whenever possible, illustrated with photographs, drawings, and graphs etc., and to work either alone or in groups under the supervision of a teacher.

-To be noted is that a jury consisting of journalists and professionals on environmental issues reviewed the press stories submitted by candidates. The total mobilization of all members of the jury made it possible to evaluate and classify the various projects. Thus, a great potential was deciphered among many children and six stories were selected and awarded by:

1. “Young Reporters” Grand Prize
2. Relevance prize
3. Emotion prize
4. Proximity prize
5. Originality prize
6. Investigation prize

Furthermore, upon the initiative of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, rewarding all participants in the competition through the issuance of a honorary diploma from the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, was proposed.

In addition, given the importance attached by Her Royal Highness to environmental education starting the first years of education, the distribution of educational kits to all schools in the Kingdom in partnership with the Ministry of National Education (MEN) was also planned. These large-scale actions will be implemented starting the next school year. In particular, widespread establishment of clubs in all schools and colleges is also in the offing.

Given the positive results shown by this year’s pilot program, it was decided to extend this experience to all grade and high schools as of next year, an event to be held annually to mark the World Environment Day.
Noteworthy also is that this “Young reporters” competition is part of the environmental education action programs of the Foundation which consolidates ongoing activities, in particular “clean beaches”, the promotion of green spaces, and the fight against pollution.

This ceremony was attended by Mr. Lhoucine TIJANI, Deputy Chairman of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment,, Mr. Mustapha SAHEL, Wali of the of Rabat-Salé Zemmour Zaer region, Mr. Hassan CHAMI, president of CGEM, Mr. Rachid BELMOKHTAR, President of the Fondation Marocaine pour la Nature et l’Homme and Mr. Moulay Youssef ENNADIFI, CEO of Holcim Maroc.

Beforehand, Her Royal Highness chaired the signing ceremony of two agreements for the maintenance of green spaces by the Communes and economic operators. These agreements include:

-The twin cities public garden maintenance agreement between SAMIR and the municipality of Mohammedia.
– The Dakhla public garden maintenance agreement between the municipality of Agadir and AKWA Group.

The ceremony was attended by Mr. Lhoucine TIJANI, Deputy President of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Protection of the Environment,, Mr. Mohamed IBRAHIMI, Governor and Director General of Local Authorities, Mr. Ali GHANNAM, Wali of the Souss Massa Daraa region, Mr. Driss EL KHAZZANI, Governor of Mohammedia, Mr. Moulay Larbi ZEROUALI, President of the City of Mohammedia, and Mr. Mohammed BOUZIDI, President of the Commune of Agadir, as well as Mr. Abderrahman SAAIDI, CEO of Samir, and Mr. Aziz AKHNOUCH, CEO of the AKWA Group.