Al Hoceima

Al Hoceima National Park was created in 2004 on the Mediterranean coast of the eastern Moroccan Rif and protects some 485 km² of land and sea.

Its shoreline is of limestone cliffs falling sheer into the Mediterranean, with coves that are hard to reach, sea caves and islets, and it constitutes one of the best-preserved stretches of coast in North Africa. The land vegetation is thermophilous scrub with mastic, dwarf fan palm and wild olive, and on the shaded slopes pinewoods and some patches of oak woodland appear.

The cliffs hold one of the last breeding populations of osprey in the western Mediterranean and in North Africa, as well as Eleonora's falcon and seabirds. The park's waters preserve Posidonia meadows and coralligenous bottoms of great value, and they were one of the last refuges of the Mediterranean monk seal in the region, now practically gone from these coasts. The artisanal fishing of the Rifian communities coexists with the protection and is at the same time its main management challenge.