Participation of Symbolic Beliefs in the Water preservation: case of the Western High Atlas in Morocco

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand the role of symbolic beliefs related to water in shaping behaviors of individuals in a way that preserve this resource. Therefore, a survey is carried out among 246 resident of the Anougal valley where the population are still retaining a traditional lifestyle. During this investigation, the collected data relate to ethnographic knowledge about water such as proverbs, tales, stories and myths. Data also concern behaviors able to preserve this resource and characteristics of surveyed populations. Overall, four variables summarize the main beliefs related to water in the valley, three variables estimate the behaviors related to water and seven socio-economic and bio-demographic variables were formulated in order to carry out this study. Results show that the proportion of survey respondents with strong symbolic beliefs is still indeed very high at the valley. However, decline of symbolic beliefs noticed is more striking amongst young people, educated people and also large landowners who cultivate a crop aimed to the market essentially. Moreover, our study is highlighting the positive impact of symbolic beliefs on water preservation behavior among this population.