Concept

Everything has been designed to privilege, preserve and share with you the local resources of the Souss Massa region and promote ecology in Morocco. For example, the ecolodge won the gold medal at the World Responsible Tourism Trophy in London in the face of more than 600 eco-friendly hotels worldwide. Only ten minutes from Agadir and 2.5 hours from Marrakech, the Atlas Kasbah ecolodge, like a majestic fortress dominates the Atlas valleys peppered with argan trees of a biosphere reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site.

The beauty and rarity of the surrounding landscapes (the argan tree being an endemic species unique in the world) as well as the generosity and kindness of local Amazigh communities give full meaning to this holiday concept in Morocco with respect for nature and the human being, which are the foundations of an Ecolodge. Nestled in the heart of an exceptional ecosystem where a permaculture garden, olive trees, argan trees, palm trees, fruit trees and aromatic and medicinal plants and other cultures coexist, the ecolodge offers a natural heritage of beauty. For your stay in Agadir, welcome to this ecological accommodation on a human scale and which has been internationally rewarded for its values uniting visitors to the Earth in his best prospects.

Commitment

The ecological objective is at the heart of our actions, we have built a network of expertise in sustainable development to participate in changing awareness and promote environmentally friendly practices. The choice of raw materials for the development, food or cleaning products is ecological and biological, in a process of development of local natural resources. Thus, our products of care and beauty in the rooms and the spa come from women's cooperatives and are organic with noble oils and raw materials of the region of Agadir and Morocco.Thus, we participate fully in the protection and enhancement of the natural and sociocultural heritage of the argan forest. The essential criteria we used relate to water, energy, waste, purchasing policy, landscape integration and environmental awareness especially in the territory of the tribes of Mesguina.

Atlas Kasbah is the first permaculture project in southern Morocco. Since 2009, several international volunteers have succeeded in developing a garden of native plants that thrive thanks to techniques such as companionship: a vegetable garden, medicinal and aromatic plants, fruit trees and argan trees:

• The British expert A. Drew, who initiated the project to implement landscape architecture and sustainable management of the garden;
• US specialist M. Connoley who focused on increasing the potential for plant irrigation and soil improvement;
• Our team of Amazigh gardeners collaborated in the field diagnosis, the choice of plantations.
  

Fruits and vegetables grow in this preserved ecosystem where many species of birds come to nest.

The phyto-purification system, unique in Morocco and developed by a researcher from the University of Agadir, makes it possible to filter the wastewater from the ecolodge by aquatic plants. This system is completed by a system of terraces for filtration thanks to the UV of the sun. The irrigation of the garden in permaculture is thus rationalized.

What is permaculture

This word is the contraction of the term permanent agriculture coined by two Australians Mollison and Holmgren. It is a sustainable agricultural system based on a landscape architecture precisely adapted to the environment in which it is established and which takes into account the interaction between human settlement and a sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture. The concept reproduces, in fact, that of the natural ecosystems in which everyone finds his place.
 

What is an ecolodge?

An ecolodge, like any eco-accommodation, is a guest house on a human scale based on the principles of sustainable development and whose human dimension is a key foundation. The objectives of an ecolodge are to support local communities by boosting the economy of the territory where it is established to preserve the environment, particularly in protected areas such as the argan forest biosphere reserve and promote local heritage.

All this must be done by sensitizing the visitors to the protection of the environment and the local heritage and by raising the awareness of the team and the inhabitants to the same objectives.

Why choose to spend your holidays in an ecolodge?

1. Staying in an ecolodge represents an awareness and a commitment towards the human and the planet, a real will to participate in the local development of the region we visit, here the magnificent forest of argan trees which is unique in the world and therefore vulnerable.
2. Choosing an ecolodge for your vacation also means that we want to learn how to improve our daily lives through a healthier and more environmentally-friendly way of life by learning how to use natural products to clean up at home or the use of new energy modes …
   
3. Traveling as a family in an ecolodge helps to raise children’s awareness of the values ​​of respect, ethics, ecology and the environment in general. This is the transmission of the concept of sustainable development to future generations.
   
4. Spending holidays in ecolodge in Morocco is therefore very important because it involves participating in developing a solidarity economy to help local people and especially women since at Atlas Kasbah we trained them to do so to live with their family, from an ecological point of view, to rationalize their consumption of water and energy …

Several awards are awarded to green hotels around the world but the most important is the World Trophy for Responsible Tourism that Atlas Kasbah won in London in 2015 being the first French-speaking accommodation in the world to win such a prize in sustainable tourism.

Community service

Since its creation, the Atlas Kasbah ecolodge aims to boost the social and economic development of the region of Agadir Souss Massa and has been awarded nationally and internationally for this purpose.

Our involvement in a large number of associations including the association N’Aït Maten of the village of Tighanimine Elbaz, the association Tourism and Environment Mesguina, Rural Tourism Development Network (RDTR) and our collaboration with various agricultural cooperatives allow us to to intervene daily with the villagers.

The word ecolodge therefore makes sense because it preserves a way of life respectful of the human being and its values ​​uniting it to the earth, this serving as an example for future generations.

Several actions have been carried out by the Atlas Kasbah ecolodge, for example:

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