Oukaïmeden is a village in the High Atlas (Morocco) at c. 2650 m, easily reached from Marrakech by road. It is a Ski resort in winter. It presently subject to significant development with numerous new winter holiday chalets being built for Moroccans from Marrakech.  It is an area important in transhumance with the arrival of enormous flocks of sheep and goats in Summer. These are looked after by shepherds and their families are living in the traditional houses or azib. The area is subject to serious overgrazing. It is also an area rich in endemics and surprisingly underexplored. It was for these reasons we made herbarium collections to identify the flora and produce a checklist from our BRAHMS database. 

The village of Oukaïmeden is situated on the S-facing slopes of Adrar Tizrar overlooking a large grassy plain and Jbel Angour with Jbel Oukaïmeden to the West. A stream descending from Jbel Angour crosses this plain and supplies an artificial reservoir, heavily polluted by the village. An outflow stream descends dramatically in a deep gulley by the road to Aït Lekak and the Ourika valley.

View of Jbel Angour, 3616 m

from village across plateau.

Hotel de l'Angour, Chez Juju (formerly owned and run by the late Madame Juju), our convenient and accommodating residence on the various visits to Okaïmeden.

Hotel de l'Angour (Chez Juju) with Hosayen the excellent chef (Left), the owner M. Jean-Paul Loubet, Hosayen the chamberman and Mohamed the waiter (Right)

Professor Mohamed Rejdali of the IAV Hassan II (Right), Mr Alistair Griffiths (Now Botanist at the Eden Project, Cornwall; UK Centre) and the driver Abdisadek with plant presses on the terrace of "Chez Juju"