Moulouya Estuary

The Moulouya runs about 520 kilometres from the Middle Atlas to the Mediterranean and reaches the sea just west of Saidia through an estuary of sand spits, brackish lagoons, reed and dune - a Ramsar site and one of the more important wetlands on the Moroccan Mediterranean coast. Greater flamingo are usually present, along with little tern, Audouin's gull, spoonbill, marsh harrier and a range of waders on passage; the dunes hold their own specialised plants. The site has been under pressure: the large Saidia resort development was built immediately alongside it in the 2000s and the environmental handling of that was heavily criticised, with damage to dune systems and changes to the water regime, so what is protected now is a reduced version of what was there. It is still worth the visit in winter, watched from the tracks and the spit.

History

The river was known in antiquity as the Malva or Mulucha, names perhaps linked to a Semitic root meaning salt. From the end of the 4th to the beginning of the 3rd century BC it marked the border between the Kingdom of the Mauri to the west and the Masaesyli to the east, and the Roman historian Livy mentions it as the Mulucha. It turns up in legend too: the 9th-century Historia Brittonum puts the River Malvam on the route of the Scoti from Egypt to Spain, and one of the imaginary Martian canals was later named Malva after it. Today the river runs 520 kilometres from the Middle Atlas and is dammed for irrigation (Wikipedia, Moulouya River).

Highlights

• A Ramsar estuary - sand spits, brackish lagoons and dune at the river mouth.
• Flamingos and terns - along with spoonbill, gulls and passage waders.
• Dune vegetation - specialised plant communities on the sand systems.
• Development pressure - a large resort built directly alongside in the 2000s.

When to go

September to April for the birds. Half a day.

Before you go

There are no hides or facilities and access is on rough tracks. The adjacent resort development has damaged parts of the dune system. Summer brings holidaymakers and few birds. Binoculars are essential.

Nearby

Saidia's beach runs east; Cap des Trois Fourches is west.