A GIS-Based Geoportal for Land Management and Societal Acceptability in Mining: Case Study of MANAGEM Group, Morocco

Authors

Keywords:

GIS, Land Geoportal, Mining site, Social Acceptability, Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG Criteria

Abstract

The complexity of land management coupled with societal considerations in Morocco's mining sector grows over time. Challenges such as land security, traceability of mining footprints, and social acceptability in sensitive territories necessitate integrated digital solutions. To allow societal considerations to be included in the land management for mining sites, this paper develops a bimodal solution. First, a web geoportal based on Geographic Information System (GIS) named MineMaps for centralised land data visualisation and management was developed. Then, a dynamic digital tool for structured societal actions’ planning aligned with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards was elaborated. The case study is the Managem Group, a key player in the mining industry in Morocco. The geoportal enables interactive visualisation of mining sites and digitises land transactions, while the societal actions tool organises actions, stakeholder data, and impact indicators. Results demonstrate enhanced land traceability, reduced legal risks, and improved community engagement, fostering inclusive and sustainable territorial governance.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Sara Ait-Lamallam, 0000-0002-6107-8659

Department of Cartography and Photogrammetry, College of Geomatics and Surveying Engineering, Agronomic and Veterinary Institute Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco

Othmane Bahmade, Department of Land Management, Managem Group, Marrakech, Morocco

e.g., "Othmane Bahmade is a land management specialist at the Managem Group, Marrakech, contributing to GIS-based solutions for mining operations."

Saad Azzaoui, Department of Land Management, Managem Group, Marrakech, Morocco

e.g., "Saad Azzaoui is a land management specialist at the Managem Group, Marrakech, contributing to GIS-based solutions for mining operations."

References

. S. B. Bealko, P. G. Kovalchik, and R. J. Matetic, "Mining Sector," Journal of Safety Research, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 187-189, Jan. 2008, doi: 10.1016/j.jsr.2008.02.004.

. "Reference Document MANAGEM.pdf," Accessed on: July 28, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.managemgroup.com/sites/default/files/2025-03/Document%20de%20R%C3%A9f%C3%A9rence%20MANAGEM.pdf

. P. L. Delville, "Land Tenure and Natural Resource Management."

. "A Moroccan cobalt mine denies claims of arsenic-contaminated local water. Automakers are concerned," AP News, Accessed on: May 19, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://apnews.com/article/bmw-renault-electric-batteries-cobalt-morocco-31d29d6498999a3ec44ee0efd3b008e4

. "Morocco Mines Plan: Towards a Competitive Mining Sector by 2030 Supporting Integrated Industrialization and Sustainable Growth," Accessed on: July 3, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.mem.gov.ma/Pages/actualite.aspx?act=283

. "Local Governance of the Mining Industry—Five Finnish Examples," Resources Policy, vol. 82, p. 103478, May 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.103478.

. I. K. Serge, "Mining Exploitation, Land Conflicts, and Social Changes in the Hinterland of Kolwezi."

. K. Chaari, M. A. ADAD, M. ALAOUI, and T. TACHALLAIT, "Industrial Land: Access and Mobilization Methods for Investors," African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, vol. 4, no. 5, pp. 638-649, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.48346/IMIST.PRSM/AJLP-GS.V4I5.25802.

. F. Hosseinali and A. A. Alesheikh, "Weighting Spatial Information in GIS for Copper Mining Exploration," American Journal of Applied Sciences, vol. 5, no. 9, pp. 1187-1198, Sept. 2008, doi: 10.3844/ajassp.2008.1187.1198.

. M. J. C. Marin, "1st Class Clerk Ministry of Housing."

. "Launch of a Digital Platform Dedicated to Industrial Land | Ministry of Industry and Commerce," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: http://www.mcinet.gov.ma/fr/content/lancement-d%E2%80%99une-plateforme-digitale-d%C3%A9di%C3%A9e-au-foncier-industriel

. K. M. Bergeron et al., "Measuring Social Acceptability of a Mining Project: An Attempt to Model Social Risk in a Quebec Context," vertigo, vol. 15-3, 2015, doi: 10.4000/vertigo.16737.

. S. Badara, "Corporate Social Responsibility and Perception of Local Stakeholders: Case of a Mining Company in Senegal," vol. 5.

. "A Moroccan cobalt mine denies claims of arsenic-contaminated local water. Automakers are concerned | AP News," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://apnews.com/article/bmw-renault-electric-batteries-cobalt-morocco-31d29d6498999a3ec44ee0efd3b008e4

. "Opinion on Strategic Minerals.pdf," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.cese.ma/media/2023/04/Avis-sur-les-minerais-strategiques-vf.pdf

. K. Khatla, "Mines: Details of the New Strategy 2021-2030," Médias24, Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://medias24.com/2021/06/29/mines-les-details-de-la-nouvelle-strategie-2021-2030/

. "World Bank Document," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://ergonassociates.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/World-Bank-Gender-Diversity-Serbia-Mining.pdf

. "Africa GeoPortal - powered by Esri," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.africageoportal.com/

. "The Geoportal of Wallonia," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://beopengis.foss4g.be/presentations/pleniere/be-OpenGIS-fr_Buffet.pdf

. "Gestim," Accessed on: August 26, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://gestim.mines.gouv.qc.ca/MRN_GestimP_Presentation/ODM02101_login.aspx

. M. Rodrigues, M.-C. Alves, R. Silva, and C. Oliveira, "Mapping the Literature on Social Responsibility and Stakeholders’ Pressures in the Mining Industry."

. "European Geoparks Network," Accessed on: July 3, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.europeangeoparks.org/

. "Africa GeoPortal - powered by Esri," Accessed on: July 3, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.africageoportal.com/

. "Gestim," Accessed on: July 3, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://gestim.mines.gouv.qc.ca/MRN_GestimP_Presentation/ODM02101_login.aspx

. "Effectiveness of Landfolio Information System at The Ministry of Natural Resources, Lands Registry Dept. | Journal of MIS@UB," Accessed on: July 5, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://ojs.ub.edu.bz/index.php/rndj/article/view/423

. G. Goodwin, "Preliminary Impressions on Institutional Media Reporting of Green Generation 2020-2030."

. M. Plainer, "Practical Study of Visual Studio Code."

. J. Duckett, "HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites," John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

. M. Rosas-Chavoya, "QGIS: A Constantly Growing Free and Open-Source Geospatial Software Contributing to Scientific Development."

. P. Fosci and G. Psaila, "Soft Querying Features in GeoJSON Documents: The GeoSoft Proposal," Int J Comput Intell Syst, vol. 16, no. 1, p. 163, Oct. 2023, doi: 10.1007/s44196-023-00325-3.

. R. E. O. Simoes, G. R. de Queiroz, K. R. Ferreira, L. Vinhas, and G. Camara, "PostGIS-T: Towards a Spatiotemporal PostgreSQL Database Extension," 2016.

. P. P. Kore, M. J. Lohar, M. T. Surve, and S. Jadhav, "API Testing Using Postman Tool," Engineering Technology, vol. 10.

. [33] O. J. Oyebode, V. B. Adebayo, and K. O. Olowe, "Assessment of the Use of AutoCAD Package for Teaching and Learning Engineering Drawing in Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti," vol. 4, no. 09, 2015.

. C. M. Rebman, "An Industry Survey of Analytics Spreadsheet Tools Adoption: Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets," 2023.

. J. Duckett, "HTML and JavaScript: Modern Web Development," 2023. [Online]. Available: https://example.com/html-js-libre.pdf (Accessed: Aug. 26, 2025).

. "Bootstrap Framework Documentation," Bootstrap Team, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://getbootstrap.com/docs/5.3/getting-started/introduction/ (Accessed: Aug. 26, 2025).

. "Leaflet.js Documentation," Leaflet Open-Source Library, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://leafletjs.com/reference.html (Accessed: Aug. 26, 2025).

. O. Theel, "Rich Internet Applications with HTML and JavaScript."

Downloads

Published

2025-09-30

How to Cite

[1]
M. Chattat, S. Ait-Lamallam, O. Bahmade, and S. Azzaoui, “A GIS-Based Geoportal for Land Management and Societal Acceptability in Mining: Case Study of MANAGEM Group, Morocco”, IJCEDS, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 1–13, Sep. 2025.

ARK