Middle Atlas cedar forests and Barbary macaques — the most unexpected wildlife encounter in Morocco, cedar-scented mountain air, and a Berber market untouched by tourism
Azrou is a small Amazigh market town in the Middle Atlas mountains of Morocco — at 1,250m in a volcanic plateau of cedar forest, 78km south of Fès and 25km north of Ifrane. The cedar forest around Azrou (and extending north to the Ifrane National Park and south toward the Khenifra area) is one of the largest Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica) forests in the world — the trees reaching 30–40m in the most mature stands, their distinctive blue-green foliage creating a forest canopy of unusual density and fragrance. The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus — the only non-human primate native to Africa out…
The Middle Atlas was settled by the Ait Youssi, Ait Seghrouchen, and Beni Mguild Amazigh tribal confederations — mountain Berber groups who resisted Arab and later Moroccan state authority from their high plateau strongholds. The cedar forests were the practical resource base: timber for construction, bark for tanning, acorns for pig and cattle feed, and the natural pharmacy of the mountain herbs. The French Protectorate administration (1912–1956) established Ifrane as a summer resort for the European colonial community; Azrou's artisan cooperative (established under French encouragement in t…