ATTARIK Foundation an NGO dedicated to Meteoritics and Planetary Science promotion in Morocco, Africa and Arab countries

ATTARIK Foundation an NGO dedicated to Meteoritics and Planetary Science promotion in Morocco, Africa, and Arab countries

• Chennaoui Aoudjehane^1,2, S. Arif^1,2, F.Z Jadid^1,2 E. El Hachemi^1,2, L. Zennouri^1,2, S. Makhoukhi^1,2, E. Ould Mohamed Naviee, O. Berrada^2,3, M. Aoudjehane^2,4 and N. Bouya², ¹GAIA Laboratory, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Faculty of Science Ain Chock, Morocco (hassna.chennaoui@univh2c.ma), ²ATTARIK Foundation for Meteoritics and Planetary Science, ³Yasmine Signature, ⁴Agrokit Morocco

 

Since 1999 first meteorite recoveries in Morocco, meteorites from our country became more and more important in number and scientific input in the planetary scientists' community. Our team in the Hassan II University of Casablanca Faculty of Science Ain Chock begin working on meteorites in 2011 introducing this topic to Moroccan universities and Moroccan society. Valuable scientific research and publications were conducted including Ph.D. thesis defenses. It was oriented first on Martian meteorites, then to all meteorite classes, then to impact cratering research. Now we are also going for planetary surfaces studies.  

In 2019, ATTARIK Foundation for Meteoritics and Planetary Science was created by our team and a group of passionate people. It is the result of the long experience in this research in Morocco. The aim of ATTARIK is to improve the research on Planetary Sciences, disseminate sciences through youth, promote Moroccan geoheritage, and develop Moroccan territories through geotourism and astrotourism. The Africa Initiative for Planetary and Space Science was launched in 2016 in Cape Town and has similar objectives.

ATTARIK Foundation become a reference in Morocco, it organized a great number of activities during its three years of existence. Among these activities are lecturing to children, youths, and the general public, and workshops on discovering meteorites and how to differentiate terrestrial and extraterrestrial rocks. We also supported much scientific research of the Ph.D. students with financial support. Geotourism circuits were also prepared in two different regions of Morocco (Tizi N’oucheg, Ait Ben Haddou, and Skoura). The most important achievement of ATTARIK this year was the organization and launching of the first and unique exhibit-museum of meteorites in Morocco. This ephemera museum contains the freshest Moroccan meteorite falls samples, the solar system, impact craters, dinosaurs, and space missions. It was initially designed for two months (July and August 2021) in an important commercial mall in Casablanca (AnfaPlace Mall). This activity had great success, and the Mall administration allowed the Foundation to extend the exhibit to the end of June 2022 making it open for one complete year.

The Moroccan experience can be a good reference to the development of planetary sciences in Africa and the Arab countries. ATTARIK Foundation aims to extend actions organized in Morocco to other countries in Africa and the MENA region.