Abstract

Mountainous regions are often less investigated and understood by the scientific community for multiple reasons, including geographical isolation, distance from major research centres and cities, and scholars’ preferences. This knowledge gap makes it more challenging to advance any conservation or development program in such remote territories in collaboration with local communities due to the relative lack of baseline information for any intervention or, monitoring and evaluation. Using the existing recent literature (in the natural and the social sciences), publicly available GIS and other cartographic data, along with some other online sources, we describe and map the bio-physical, human and conservation geography of the Moroccan High Atlas, first by defining its limits followed by a characterisation of its geology, pedology, hydrology, climatology,  biogeography,  ethnology,  and  other  human parameters. In addition to the characteristics at the regional level, the High Atlas has been divided into three distinct regions (western, central, and eastern) based on physical and administrative features. Results point towards these landscapes’ myriad environmental and social resources and their fragilities, regional similarities and particularities and existing gaps in the region’s knowledge. We hope this  compilation  is  helpful  for  researchers,  governmental organisations, NGOs, policymakers, and others interested in this mountain range, especially after the heart-breaking earthquake that hit the region in September 2023.