The beauty industry loves argan oil. But demand, and drought, are straining Morocco and its trees

By SAM METZ Associated Press SMIMOU Morocco AP Argan oil runs through your fingers like liquid gold hydrating luscious and restorative Prized worldwide as a miracle cosmetic it s more than that in Morocco It s a lifeline for rural women and a byproduct of a forest slowly buckling under the weight of growing demand To make it women crouch over stone mills and grind down kernels One kilogram roughly two days of work earns them around enough for a modest foothold in an business activity where opportunities are scarce It also links them to generations past We were born and raised here These traditions come from nature what our parents and grandparents have taught us and what we ve inherited cooperative worker Fatma Mnir announced Long a staple in local markets argan oil in current times is in luxury hair and skin care products lining drugstore aisles worldwide But its runaway popularity is threatening argan forests with overharvesting piled on top of drought straining trees once seen as resilient in the harshest of conditions Hafida El Hantati owner of one of the cooperatives that harvests the fruit and presses it for oil stated the stakes go beyond the trees threatening cherished traditions We must take care of this tree and protect it because if we lose it we will lose everything that defines us and what we have now she declared at the Ajddigue cooperative outside the coastal town of Essaouira Goats climb and feed on an argan tree in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy An argan tree which has been affected by drought stands in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A fruit hangs on an argan tree in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A worker from local governing body irrigates newly planted argan trees to help fight against drought and deforestation in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A forest of argan trees is visible in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Show Caption of Goats climb and feed on an argan tree in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Expand A forest out of time For centuries argan trees have supported life in the arid hills between the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlas Mountains feeding people and animals holding soil in place and helping keep the desert from spreading The spiny trees can survive in areas with less than an inch of annual rain and heat up to degrees Celsius Fahrenheit They endure drought with roots that stretch as far as feet meters underground Goats climb trees chomp their fruit and eventually disperse seeds as part of the forest s regeneration cycle Moroccans stir the oil into nut butters and drizzle it over tagines Rich in vitamin E it s lathered onto dry hair and skin to plump moisturize and stave off damage Selected use it to calm eczema or heal chicken pox But the forest has thinned Trees bear fewer fruit their branches gnarled from thirst In several places cultivated land has replaced them as fields of citrus and tomatoes a multitude of grown for export have expanded Communities once managed forests collectively setting rules for grazing and harvesting Now the system is fraying with theft routinely published What s wrong with the forest But a forest that covered about square miles square kilometers at the turn of the century has shrunk by Scientists warn that argan trees are not invincible Because argan trees acted as a green curtain protecting a large part of southern Morocco against the encroaching Sahara their slow disappearance has become considered as an ecological mishap commented Zoubida Charrouf a chemist who researches argan at Universit Mohammed V in Rabat Shifting situation is a part of the dilemma Fruit and flowers sprout earlier each year as rising temperatures push the seasons out of sync Goats that help spread seeds can be destructive too especially if they feed on seedlings before they mature Overgrazing has become worse as herders and fruit collectors fleeing drier regions encroach on plots long allocated to specific families The forests also face threats from camels bred and raised by the region s wealthy Camels stretch their necks into trees and chomp entire branches leaving lasting damage Charrouf mentioned Women crack argan nuts at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Argan seeds are placed in a basket after getting cracked at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A woman cracks argan nuts at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Women crack argan nuts at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A forest of argan trees is visible in Agadir Morocco Wednesday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Argan based products are displayed for sale at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A woman pours argan seeds in a machine that extracts oil at at a cooperative in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Show Caption of Women crack argan nuts at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Expand Liquid gold dry pockets In the modern day women peel crack and press argan for oil at hundreds of cooperatives Much makes its way through middlemen to be sold in products by companies and subsidiaries of L Or al Unilever and Est e Lauder But workers say they earn little while watching profits flow elsewhere Cooperatives say much of the pressure stems from climbing prices A -liter bottle sells for Moroccan dirhams up from dirhams three decades ago Products infused with argan sell for even more abroad Cosmetics companies call argan the greater part expensive vegetal oil on the arena The coronavirus pandemic upended global demand and prices and a multitude of cooperatives closed Cooperative leaders say new competitors have flooded the sphere just as drought has diminished how much oil can be squeezed from each fruit Cooperatives were set up to provide women a base pay and share profits each month But Union of Women s Argan Cooperatives President Jamila Id Bourrous noted scant make more than Morocco s minimum monthly wage The people who sell the final product are the ones making the money she noted Several businesses say large multinational companies use their size to set prices and shut others out Khadija Saye a co-owner of Ageourde Cooperative explained there were real fears about monopoly Don t compete with the poor for the one thing they live from she revealed When you take their model and do it better because you have money it s not competition it s displacement One company Olvea controls of the export arena according to information from local cooperatives Cooperatives say sparse competitors can match its maximum to fill big orders for global brands Representatives for the company did not respond to requests for comment Kharra Tlaytmass who works at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products poses for a portrait Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Rabiaa Reshmayn who works at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products poses for a portrait in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Lalla Fatouma Boulkmah who works at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products poses for a portrait in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Fatima Bensaid who works at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products poses for a portrait in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Women crack argan nuts at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy A woman pours argan nuts to extract oil at a cooperative in Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Show Caption of Kharra Tlaytmass who works at a cooperative that extracts and produces argan oil and products poses for a portrait Essaouira Morocco Thursday May AP Photo Mosa ab Elshamy Expand Mounting challenges limited solutions On a hill overlooking the Atlantic a executive water truck weaves between rows of trees pausing to hose saplings that have just started to sprout The trees are a project that Morocco began in planting square miles square kilometers on private lands abutting the forests To conserve water and improve soil fertility argan trees alternate rows with capers a technique known as intercropping The idea is to expand forest cover and show that argan if properly managed can be a viable source of income Representatives hope it will ease pressure on the overharvested commons and convince others to reinvest in the land The trees were expected to begin producing this year but haven t during a drought Another issue is the supply chain Between the woman in the village and the final buyer there are four intermediaries Each takes a cut The cooperatives can t afford to store so they sell cheap to someone who pays upfront Id Bourrous the union president commented The administration has attempted to build storage centers to help producers hold onto their goods longer and negotiate better deals So far cooperatives say it hasn t worked but a new version is expected in with fewer obstructions to access Despite problems there s money to be made During harvest season women walk into the forest with sacks scanning the ground for fallen fruit To El Hantati the forest once thick and humming with life feels quieter now Only the winds and creaking trees are audible as goats climb branches in search of remaining fruits and leaves When I was young we d head into the forest at dawn with our food and spend the whole day gathering The trees were green all year long she announced She paused worried about the future as younger generations pursue schooling and opportunities in larger cities I m the last generation that lived our traditions weddings births even the way we made oil It s all fading Islam Aatfaoui contributed reporting The Associated Press weather and environmental coverage receives financial promotion from multiple private foundations AP is solely responsible for all content Find AP s standards for working with philanthropies a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP org