On a typically hot day in Algeria, this lonely tree caught my attention. Sitting high on the harvested field, it is hard to see how this tree managed to survive.
Where I live, we do not have a lot of forests. I have no idea why, but I could think of a few factors that may be behind this.
The weather is not forgiving. It gets really cold and dry in the winter, to the point of freezing. In the summer temperatures rise up to 50C for weeks on the trot.
Water is scarce, and people divert all of this crucial resource to serve their own survival. We probably didn’t inherit black forests or rain forests like the ones you find in northern Europe and the tropics, but we could do something to change that.
There was a big project funded by the government over the last 30 years, which aims to plant a green belt of trees separating the desert from the mountains across the whole country. But it will take a lot of effort and commitment over a distance of 2000 km.
What we really need is to encourage people to plant trees that can survive the tough times as well as having the capability to expand without human interference.
At the end of the day, trees need time, and we have to be patient. Results won’t be immediate, but we have to plan and start applying those plans right now.
One Comment
Very pretty photo, why don’t you put more photos??