Farmers plant date palms on the outskirts of Baghdad Baghdad – Arab Today Iraq has lost almost two thirds of its palm trees in 30 years, with less than 11 million left of a former population of 30 million, experts say. Some of the country’s palm tree species are in danger of extinction, and research into the trees is underfunded. The situation is so serious that a university in Holland has launched an “Iraqi Palm Carnival”.
Experts estimate that in the 1980s, before the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq had 30 million palm trees, known as “nakhl” in Arabic. The war is among the reasons for the drop in the number of trees to under 11 million, as the conflict saw the burning of the trees in southern Iraq, particularly in the city of Basra\'s eastern border with Iran.
The war also led to the migration of farmers from their lands near the border and around the Shatt al-Arab area, during the 13-year-long economic blockade. All aspects of life were neglected, and infrastructure, agriculture, and the environment witnessed serious setbacks. What’s more, the water supply became very saline, affecting the palms with serious diseases.
But while Iraq’s iconic palm trees are in danger, several initiatives to save it are underway.
One of the most prominent is the Iraqi Palm Carnival, brainchild of the head of Ibn Rushd University in Hollamd, Tayseer Abdul Jabbar al-Alusi.
In an interview with Arab Today, Dr Alusi said he sees the palm is something that unites Iraqis despite their political differences. Iraq is not an industrial nation, the expert said, but the “land of blackness”, a term used by Arabs to refer to Iraq, because its large green areas are seen as dark green or black.
Explaining his tree-saving project, Dr Alusi said: “There are two sides to this carnival, the first one is environmental and agricultural, to combat the creeping desertification in our towns and plains.
“In addition, the Palm represents a cultural and spiritual side of the Iraqi people. This carnival can respond to the violence that wants to destroy these people.\"
The carnival will involve a conference to discuss the palm as national treasure, and invite foreign organisations to conduct research into the tree, Dr Alusi said.
He added that the threat palm trees in Iraq is not only quantitative but also qualitative, as certain types of palm trees are in danger of extinction due to diseases.
The Iraqi Palm Carnival is asking the Iraqi government to allocate part of its budget to efforts to rescue the Iraqi palms, in addition to holding a national palm day to celebrate the national symbol.
In the Iraqi capital, Dr Kazem Jassam Hammadi, head of the Date Palm Research Center at the University of Basra, is clear about who is responsible of for looking after Iraqi’s palm tree population.
\"The Ministry of Agriculture is the primary body that is supposed to have accurate statistics about palms, and secondly the provinces known to have palm trees, as well as the Iraqi government’s agricultural initiative,” he said, adding that two research centres also bore responsibility for the issue - his own Date Palm Research Center at the University of Basra, and the Palm Research Unit at the University of Baghdad.
Dr Hammadi said that population grown, as well as the war and high salinity had affected the number of palm trees in Iraq, especially in Basra palm farms.
But he pointed to an initiative in Basra to improve palm tree productions in the province. Basra used to produce 600 varieties of date palms, which has fallen to decreased to just 50. The initiative, according to Dr Kazem, will see $130,000 invested in research to revive the varieties that have died out.
Dr Hammadi said the project’s budget is very limited, and despite a deal with the UAE providing seeds, it hasn’t received any funds, either from governmental or non-governmental organizations.
The lack of funding for research centres and projects that take care of palm trees make the threat against Iraqi’s palm trees even more severe.