Moroccan Off-Road Tourism: The Need for Sustainable Regulations

Moroccan Off-Road Tourism: The Need for Sustainable Regulations

One of the most controversial things about Moroccan off-road tourism is that it's not regulated much. Let's take US National Parks for example—guarded lands of the Sacred Nature. Nobody even talks about off-roading there, because why would you want to destroy the beauty with your tracks? Yet there are certified and professionally assessed trails for UTVs, ATVs, and such. Vehicles are simply a means of travel, not significantly more than that. That's why most of them are strictly limited to the minimum capacity for their purpose. No wonder all major brands produce trail buggies for such tourism—they are narrower and lighter. And that's the right approach if you are talking about safety—yours and nature's.

Nevertheless, we are here not to beat the paths into highways for quads that will swarm the place after a while. The human brain desires something different. It gets inspired by the unknown and untouched. The biggest motivation of humanity is to explore and push the boundaries of what is known.

And you know what? Morocco still got it. The real exploration. We forgot so much of the history of this country and have to rediscover places and stories like remnants of the bygone era. Old trails untouched for 70 years, villages in remote mountains living in a different reality than ours. And don't forget the desert. Archeologists haven't even started to prepare to go underneath the sands of Sahara. Not many places in the world can give you true wilderness, and Morocco is one of them.

And here is the problem. On one side, discover whatever you'd like, go literally anywhere. Yes, a few permissions here and there, but that's it. You are free. On the other side, you have to make it sustainable.

Sustainability is a challenge. Within our company, it's not a big deal though, because we are used to very strict regulations and we understand the reasoning behind them. Nobody obliges us; it's all up to understanding what you're actually doing here, self-control, and patience. That's why we lay our tracks taking the environment into consideration while keeping it adventurous and real. But we are not alone, and we know for a fact that these paths will be followed by others.

So regulations are needed, now especially, coming from the bottom to the top to ensure that we all have the same mission: to show the world these places and help them prosper, rather than exploit them until they are no longer attractive and fall into ruin. We have seen those places decayed and that's sad. We don't want that to happen here.

There is a balance in everything and it's in the hands of everyone. Let's keep it sustainable.