Today ie 28^th June  (although it was a weekend ), I visited  Greenworks, the nursery of the AL Barari Estate, in Dubai to participate in gathering of the seed pods of the precious GHAF TREE and subsequent seed sorting.  This was done to  help in additional seeds preparation for the next season, to help plant more Ghaf Trees.

This event was organized by DUBAI BASED GOUMBOOK?s – ? GIVE A GHAF( TREE PLANTING PROGRAM)?.  For the UAE, an accelerating decline in Ghaf trees and woodlands implies a loss in cultural and biological heritage. Goumbook wants to preserve its aesthetical, cultural and ecological significance and lead its conservation to undertake a public awareness drive aimed at protecting the wild Ghaf.

To help save the species, Goumbook and its local partners have launched the ?Give a Ghaf? programme to raise public awareness about the Ghaf and its values, while encouraging people to plant them.

The following are some of the interesting facts I learnt about the Ghaf tree from the members GOUMBOOK. 

1. The Ghaf tree, which scientific name is Prosopis Cineraria, is a small to medium-sized thorny tree, with slender branches armed with conical thorns and with light bluish-green foliage. The leaflets are dark green with thin casting of light shade.

The tree is evergreen or nearly so and produces new flush leaves before summer. The flowers, small in size and yellow or creamy white in color, appear from March to May after the new flush of leaves. The seedpods are formed soon thereafter and grow rapidly in size, attaining full size after about two months.

It is well adapted to browsing by animals, such as camels and goats. Young plants assume a cauliflower-like, bushy appearance in areas open to goat browsing.

Prosopis Cineraria requires strong light, and dense shade will kill seedlings. The crown (aboveground portion) grows slowly.

The root system of Prosopis Cineraria is long and well developed, securing a firm footing for the plant and allowing it to obtain moisture from groundwater. Taproot penetration up to 35 m (115 ft) in soil depth has been reported. Like other members of the family Fabaceae, symbiotic bacteria found in its root nodules allow it to fix nitrogen in the soil, improving soil fertility.

 During long, dry periods, when much of the ground vegetation is dormant, the Ghaf (Prosopis cineraria) spreads out its lush canopy often laden with flower and fruit.

2.  This tree is one great survivor! Fierce temperatures, searing winds, high rates of water loss?the Ghaf tolerates them all.

3.  A multipurpose tree of arid lands that is considered a solution to desertification, the Ghaf stabilizes dunes while it improves soil. What is more, it propagates itself by providing new shoots from parent root systems. Identified with Arab tradition, it is not surprising that Ghaf finds a place in folklore.

4. Today, however, the Ghaf is being over-lopped and over-grazed to destruction.

5.  Ghaf groves are succumbing to urbanization and rapid infrastructure development.

6.  The Wild Ghaf is an  indigenous species, specifically of the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia, the Ghaf is a drought – tolerant, evergreen tree which is, possibly, the sturdiest plant of the harsh desert environment In the UAE, it can be seen growing on low sand dunes, undulating sand sheets and along margins of gravel plains mostly in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

7.  The presence of Ghaf in an area indicates that there is water underground. The tree taps water stored deep in the sand, its roots penetrating as deep as 30 meters to access it. Thus, Ghaf is able to withstand very low rainfall and still stay green. How long it can survive if groundwater itself gets exhausted, is yet to be determined.

8.  Flowers, fruits, leaves, bark, branches and roots of Ghaf – all provide resources and habitat for a variety of native fauna and flora, making the tree a keystone species one that plays such an integral part of the food chain in an ecosystem, that if it disappeared, it would cause the ultimate extinction of other species in that system. Many birds build nests on the Ghaf – desert eagle owl, brown-necked raven, yellow-throated sparrow and long-legged buzzard are examples. Still others nest in holes along trunk and branches and many more use the trees as roosts.

 9. .An added economic value of Ghaf is as an ornamental in cities and towns, where it is being extensively planted.

Once the saplings are ready the planting of the Ghaf Tree will be done in October – Nov 2013.