Transcript Slide 1

5.10
Indigenous trees and their role
in rural livelihoods
Examples from Tihama Region, Repubic of Yemen
Tihama zones and their native trees
Zone 3
Zone I
Red Sea
Coast
Arid coastal lowland
RF: 50 - 100 mm/year
EC >3 ds/m
Stretch: 20 km
Zone 2
Arid/semi-arid lowland
RF: 100 to 200 mm/year
EC:1-2 dS/m
Stretch: 25 km
Zone 1: Mangroove, Dome and Nehal trees
Zone 2: Selam, Arack, Temariks and Haleg trees
Zone 3: Daber and Sedr trees
Mid-land to mountainous
RF: 300 to 400 mm/year
EC:< 0.7dS/m
Stretch:30 km
Acacia Eherenbergiana
Selam Tree
Some basic facts
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Most imporant & dominant
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Resilient to drought:
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Land coverage: 22,000 ha (2005)
Grows well in areas with RF < 150 mm/year
Moderately tolerant to salinity
High regeneration capacity
No dominant stem
Life span: 10 to 15 years
Tree height: 3 to 5 m
Length of thorns: 8 cm
Major benefits
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Flowers
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Most loved by bees
Selam Honey
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Arguably the best
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Used for famous dishes: ‘Fata’
and ‘Bit Al-Sahan’, (bread with
honey)
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Cost: USD 30/liter
Selam Honey:
Thick and dark
Major benefits
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Leaves and thorns
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Best feed for goats
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Rich in proteins
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Effective in goat fattening
Major benefits
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Stem - wood
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Charcoal production:
• Arguably the best
• Lits quick and stay lit long
• USD 5 per sack (about 20 kg)
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Keteran:
• Fluid extracted from charcoal
• Cure for animal (goat, sheep, camel) skin
diseases
Charcoal production process
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Cut tree, trim leaves, and burn
in a controlled manner, to remove
thorns
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Pile thorn-free wood in good order
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Cover the piled wood with
sorghum/millet residues left over by
animals
Charcoal production steps
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Cover with metal sheet and then soil
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Ignite wood through small opening – let it
burn for a week. After three days, fluid shed
by the burning wood (Keteran) can be
collected by inserting a pipe through the opening.
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Close opening with soil, allow 3 days for
cooling
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Un-earth the woods, break them down and pack them
in sacks
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Sell on site or deliver to the market
Words of caution and wisdom
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While charcoal prodution is source of
livelihood for some, it should be
conrolled:
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Selam Tree coverage has decreased from
44,000 ha in 1970 to 22,000 ha in 2005 (TDA
records)
“Iza Labu Sheger Selam, Labu Alnob,
Labu Alasel, Labu alkenem, Labu Alakel”
(if there is no Selam Tree, there are no bees,
there is no honey, there are no goats, there is no
food), words of the old namdic father seen in
the picure
Zizphus spina-christ
Sedr/Elb/Argh
Some basic facts
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Second to Selam, the most important
tree
Sparsely puputated - area coverage
estimate:10,000 ha
Sensitive to drought
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Sensitive to salinity
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Requires 20 to 30 oC and
300 to 400 mm/year
Needs EC < 0.7 dS/m
Life span: 20 to 25 years
Height of tree: 5 to 10 m
Small thorns: 1 to 2 cm
Major benefits
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Flowers:
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As loved by bee as that of Selam
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Elb/Sedr honey -
• As good as - some say better
than - that of Selam
• Cost: USD 30/liter
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Fruits
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Tihama Apple
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Suplementary food
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Mild sugary taste
Sedr honey:
Thick and brownish
Major benefits
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Fruits
 Believed to cure kidney problems
• Boil fruits
• Thick juicy fluid will form
• Filter the Juicy fluid - drink at least about
1 litre a day - you feel better in few
weeks
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Leaves and branches:
 Favourite feed for Camel
 Natural shampoo: keeps hair fresh
• Dry leaves
• Grind and throughly mix with water to
form thick green fluid
• Wash hair with the thick green fluid
Major benefits
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Stem
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Strong, resistant to termite
species
Bed legs and frame
Yemeni people enjoy gat
(excitement plant) in such a
bed
Farm implements
• Plough
• Spade and hoe handle
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Fishing boats
Jaafar Hassan Alawi Al-Jeffri, Director of
Agriculture and Extension Department in his
Eusha, a traditional hut where he enjoys Kat
Word of Eminence
Sedr is the Selam tree to the highland inhabitants: it is the most
important contributor to their livelihood
Sedr, together with Selam, is a blessed tree in the Kuran (Jaafar
Hassan Alawi Al-Jeffri, Director of Agriculture and Extension Department, TDA)
Silvadora persica
Arack tree
Some basic facts
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Easy to uproot - its habitat is being constantly
encroached by agricultural fields
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Endangered specie – estimate is less than
3,000 ha
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Resilient to drought:
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Fourishes with RF < 150 mm/year
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Slow at regeneration
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No dominant stem
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Life span: 10 to 15 years
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Tree height: 4 -6 m
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No thorns
Major benefits
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Roots
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Natutal tooth brush
Raw material for tooth paste –
export to Saudi Arabia
2 cm long root costs
30 Yemeni rial
Fruits
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Green–unripe
Redish when ripe
Hot, spicy
Supplied with almost every dish
Major benefits
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Tree as a whole
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Effective in stoping sand dunes
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Labelled as second best (first being
Haleg) defence belt against sand
dunes in the Munira village trial by the
TDA Agricultural and Extension
Department (see elaboration on slide
26)
Words of appreciation
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Profet Mohamed, may peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, said:
“If I am not bothering you too much, I would ask you to brush your teeth
(using Arack) five times – that is before each prayer time”
Balanites aegyptica
Haleg
Some basic facts
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Native to mountainous areas
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Performed well in the arid Munira Village (trial by
Agriculture and Extension Department, TDA)
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20 to 30 oC, 300 to 450 mm/year
> 35 oC, 100 to 200 mm/year
Moderate regenation ability
Moderately tolerant to salinity
Dominant strong stem
Life span: 20 to 25 years
Maximum height: 5 - 10 m
length of thorns: 5 – 8 cm
Major benefits
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Stem
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Leaves and branches
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Strongest and heaviest
(Sedr ranks 2nd)
Best for traditional beds (slide 15) and traditional
house poles
Best for fishing boats (Sedr is second best)
Good Camel feed (Sedr is best, slide 14)
Fruits
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Small egg shaped
Suppemtary food for children
High protein content
One of the typical highland village huts,
all poles are from Haleg
Major benefits
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Though native to highland
areas, survived drought and
proved to be the best sand
dune defence in Munira Village
(Arack is second best, slide 20)
Munira town gets life: thanks to Haleg & Arack
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Abondoned Munira Village houses due to
sand dune
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10 years back
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Notice 3 layers in the wall – top layer
constructed in the past 3 years – still
little buried by sand dune
Revival of abondoned houses after 12
lines of Arak and Haleg defence against
sand dune
Task competed by TDA 3 years ago
Dome (coconut) Tree
Some basic facts
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Costal area plant, tolerant to salinity
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EC > 2.5 dS/m
Poor in regeneration
Land coverage significantly reduced
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2 miilion trees in 1970
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0.5 million in 2005
Relentlessly cut for various hand craft materials
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Groundwater (major source of water) table lowered
from 2 - 5m (1970) to > 35 m (2005)
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Moderately tolerant to drought
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Dominat stem
Height of tree: 15 to 30 m
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Major benefits
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Fruits
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supplementary food
Top hard and rough layer is removed by
colliding two fruits or using a stone
Layer beneath the cover is stif but
delciious, it is eaten raw
Interiror layer is a hard shell , childred
use it for a swirling ball game.
Leaves
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Various hand crafts
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Shopping baskets
Prayer mat
Bed sheets
Sun protection hut
Major benefits
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Khel – Vinegar
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Salad dressing
Soup
Procedure to make Khel
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Make a cut at the juncture between stem and leaves
Tie a container just below the cut to collect
continously dripping thin liquid
Add yeast to the liquid and let it stay for 40 days - it
becomes strongly alcoholic with a flavour of vinegar
Dilute it with an equal volume of water
Usually sold in small bottles (0.3 l)
for USD 5 per bottle
Note:
Actual Photo/Video
documentation can be
done in March/April
when Khel is actually
being produced
Tamarix
Athel
Some basic facts
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Resilient to drought:
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RF < 150 mm/year
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Temperature > 35 oC
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Moderately tolerant to salinity
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Poor regeneration capacity
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Dominant stem
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Height of tree: 5 to 15 m
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Life span: 15 to 25 years
Major benefits
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Fence for agricultura area
 Perfect good looking hut roofs
Debora glabra
Daber
Some basic facts
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Sensitive to drought
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RF: 300 to 450 mm/year
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Temperature < 30 oC
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Sensitive to salinity
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Very slow in regeneration
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Dominant stem
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Height of tree: 10 m to 15 m
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Lifespan: 50 to 70 years
Major benefits
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Stem
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Hole is drilled – store for farm
implements and farmers’ lunch
Hole can be easily drilled
• Takes maximum 1 hour
• Outer layer (3 to 5 cm ) is
strong and stiff
• Inner part is soft
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Fire wood
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Usualy dry old branches are
collected
Word of significance
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Daber is persumably the oldest
tree
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It is long living tree
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Have been playing under the shade
of this tree since I was a kid. (words
of the old father in the picture)
Daber is a home away from
home for farmers
With Special Acknowledgements to
Jaafar Hassan Alawi Al-Jeffri
Director, Agriculture and Extension Department
Tihama Development Authority
REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
Prepared under the documentation
programme of ILEIA