Abstract
Coastal wetlands host a large part of the world’s biodiversity and provide various ecosystem services with a known economic value. However, they experience many pressures due to anthropogenic and natural drivers, causing periodic changes in their structure and functioning. Earth Observation provides opportunities for monitoring water surface dynamics and understanding the impacts of different drivers on wetland degradation. This study had two objectives: to assess the spatiotemporal dynamic of the Sidi Boughaba Lake surface area (Mediterranean and North African coastal Ramsar site, Morocco) over 38 years (1984–2021) and to identify natural and anthropogenic drivers of this dynamic, mainly land-use and land-cover changes and policies. This work focused on the use of multiple datasets based on remote sensing images within a cloud-based computing platform. Time series of satellite images were classified and used after a series of processing procedures to assess the land use and land cover and water extent dynamics. Results reveal that over 38 years, the lake shows intra- and inter-annual variations, including significant losses of permanent water impacting its dynamic and extent. Those trends call into question the urban and agricultural policies adopted. Pressure on resources and the regressive trend recorded in the dynamic of the lake are likely to increase further in future years if effective protection measures are not implemented. The results of this study help authorities, civil society, and decision makers to make decisions and call for action to protect these areas and maintain their capacity to provide ecosystem services and address global concerns such as biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.