Kuwait Times

Published Date: May 19, 2007

DUBAI: Twisting out of the sand in the piping heat of the Arabian Peninsula is one of nature's toughest trees. Known for its coarse bark and green canopy that provides rare shade from the sweltering sun, the ghaf tree is considered a steadfast survivor of the brutal desert.  But climate change, groundwater overuse, excessive woodcutting and increased camel grazing are threatening the ghaf's existence, environmentalists say.

The World Wildlife Fund and the Emirates Wildlife Society are fighting back- launching a campaign to save the ghaf.  They hope increased awareness will convince the Emirates' government to declare it the country's national tree.  "It should result in greater respect for the tree from the public," said Rashmi de Roy of the WWF's Dubai office.  The WWF has set up a Web site where the public can learn about the ghaf, buy ghaf seedlings and register their support. The groups also hope to designate protected ghaf woodlands across the Emirates and plant 100 ghaf trees in a protected part of the Abu Dhabi emirate in September.

"The campaign will be finished when we succeed in getting government approval for the ghaf tree to be formally declared the national tree of the UAE," de Roy said.  The ghaf tree, which along with the Arabian Peninsula is also found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, is an essential part of the fragile desert ecosystem, the groups say. Its wood can be used for fuel, its fruit for food and its flowers and bark are said to have medicinal qualities.  Birds build their nests in the tree's large canopies, and the desert eagle owl, brown-necked ravens, gazelles and hares use the ghaf for shelter, de Roy said. Gerbils burrow between its roots, she added.

It has long been survived in the harsh desert climate here -where temperatures soar to more than 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) and can cope with long periods of drought and poor soil. To extract groundwater stored deep below the surface, the tree's roots stretch as far as 30 meters into the soil.  But environmentalists say several factors increasingly threatening the tree. Camel overgrazing has hurt the ghaf, they say, as the desert's sparse vegetation is struggling to support the increasing number of camels in the Gulf.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said global warming is causing temperatures in the Gulf region to grow hotter -perhaps too hot for the ghaf. Average temperatures have increased around 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) between 1970 and 2004 for most of the region, the IPCC said in a report released earlier this year. The population in the region also has mushroomed, causing fresh water to be sucked from the ground, environmentalists say. This excessive water extraction causes groundwater to fall below the long reach of the ghaf's roots.

"The main problem for the ghaf is the pollution and reduction of the ground water," said Jackie Judas, a wildlife biologist at the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi.  Judas said as the population has increased, rapid development has pushed "deeper and deeper" into the desert turning areas that were once just sand into housing developments and shopping malls. "That does not effect only the ghaf but also all the natural habitat in the desert and animal life around this tree, like the gazelle, the egal awl and various insects," Judas said. - AP