Death of Mohamed Larbi Chakroun (2 February 1943 – 22 December 2023)
The AIFM is deeply saddened to announce the death of its former President and founding member, Mohamed Larbi Chakroun, on 22 December 2023.
A former student at the École des Barres (ENITEF), he joined the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture in the early 1980s, working to protect forests and natural environments and to combat desertification. He then held the post of Director General of Forests at the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture from 1994 to 1999. In the early 2000s, he joined the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as head of projects aimed at preserving forest areas in a sustainable manner. He was a General Engineer in Water and Forests.
The decision to create the AIFM was formally taken in 1993. Mohamed Larbi Chakroun took part in the various preparatory meetings and, at the constitutive General Assembly in Nice on 11 October 1996, he was elected as the first Chairman of the AIFM.
He held this position until June 2013, when, on his proposal, his friend Abdelhamid Khaldi was in turn elected President.
During these seventeen years, he contributed to the development of the AIFM network and its international influence. He has worked for the launch of several Mediterranean projects and for the rational and efficient management of the association.
Mohamed Larbi Chakroun was made a Knight of the Order of the Tunisian Republic in 1990 and was awarded the Tunisian Civil Protection Medal of Merit in 1993 in recognition of his efforts and contributions throughout his career.