INZERKI,
Morocco —
Morocco’s village of Inzerki is proud to claim it has the world’s oldest and
largest collective beehive, but instead of buzzing with springtime activity,
the colonies have collapsed amid crippling drought.
اضافة اعلان
Beekeeper Brahim Chatoui says he has lost
almost a third of his hives in just two months — and he is not alone.
“At this time of year, this area would
normally be buzzing with bees,” said Chatoui, sweating under a blazing
springtime sun. “Today, they’re dying at a terrifying rate.”
The
North African kingdom has seen a dramatic
spike in mass die-offs of the critical pollinators, a phenomenon called “colony
collapse disorder”.
Worldwide, experts say such sudden mass
deaths of bees are often linked to the destruction of nature and the rampant
use of pesticides.
But authorities in Morocco say these
collapses are caused by the worst drought to hit the country in 40 years, which
has decimated the plants on which bees rely for food.
‘Unprecedented’
spike
The
crisis is so acute that the government released 130 million dirhams ($13
million), to support beekeepers and investigate the cause of the bee deaths.
Morocco’s National Food Safety Office, which
carried out the investigation, ruled out disease as a reason.
Instead, it blamed the “unprecedented” spike
in hive collapses on an intense drought driven by climate change.
Inzerki’s unique collective beehive sits on a
sunny hillside in the heart of the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve, a
UNESCO-protected 2.5-million-hectare region, some 415km southwest of the
capital Rabat.
The complex is striking: A five-storeyed
structure of wooden struts and dry mud stretch along a hillside, each
compartment home to a cylindrical wicker hive, covered with a mix of earth and
cow dung.
Experts say it is the oldest traditional,
collective beehive in the world, dating back to 1850, but today it is under
threat amid a changing climate.
“This year we hope for rain, because I have
lost 40 hives so far,” Chataoui said.
Bee expert Antonin Adam, who has studied the
insects in southwestern Morocco, also blamed the collapse on the drought.
But he added the problem may have been
exacerbated by “the bees’ vulnerability to diseases, nomadic pastoral
practices, intensive agriculture and the country’s desire to increase its honey
production”.
That desire is clearly visible in agriculture
ministry figures.
Honey output has risen by 69 percent in a
decade, from 4.7 tonnes in 2009 to almost eight tonnes in 2019, generating
revenues of over 100 million euros.
But it is not only Inzerki’s apiary that is
in trouble.
Mohamed Choudani, of the UAM beekeepers
union, said the crisis was hitting bee populations across the country.
Last summer, Morocco’s 36,000 beekeepers were
managing some 910,000 hives, up by 60 percent since 2009, according to official
figures.
But Choudani said that since last August,
100,000 colonies had been lost in the central region of Beni Mellal-Khenifra
alone.
Bees and other pollinators are vital for the
reproduction of more than three-quarters of food crops and flowering plants.
The
UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) say bees play an “essential role... in keeping people and the planet
healthy”, with the UN saying they “serve as sentinels for emergent
environmental risks, signaling the health of local ecosystems”.
‘Exceptional
legacy’
For
the villagers of Inzerki, the collapse of hives is an ecological and economic
disaster — but also a crisis for their unique heritage.
Chatoui, the beekeeper, said many Inzerki
residents can’t afford to revive the hives they have lost.
“Some families have decided just to give up
on beekeeping completely,” he said.
The hives at Inzerki are in trouble. Parts of
the structure, recently listed as a national heritage site, are sagging.
Geographer Hassan Benalayat says the neglect
is due to several factors on top of climate change, including the arrival of
modern agriculture and a general exodus from the countryside.
Around 80 families in the village once kept
bees. Today there are less than 20.
“It’s urgent to keep this exceptional legacy
alive,” Benalayat said.
Chatoui and other villagers have set up an
association to restore the structure, as well as planting herbs for the bees
that are better able to tolerate hot and arid conditions.
“The situation is critical, but that doesn’t
mean I’m giving up,” Chatoui said.
“The aim isn’t to produce honey, but to protect the hives
and make sure the bees survive until better days.”
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