Global IssuesBIODIVERSITY: Pharaonic Palm at Risk of Extinction, Again
Environmentalists have called for more efforts to protect the argun palm, a rare desert tree prized by the ancient Egyptians that is on the verge of extinction.
Less than 400 argun palms (Medemia argun) are known to exist in remote desert regions of Egypt and Sudan. Environmentalists say urgent action is needed to protect the enigmatic fan palm, which is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species.
'These palms may be the remnants of vegetation that covered the Sahara over 10,000 years ago when the area was much wetter than it is today,' says Haitham Ibrahim, an ecologist at the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), the executive arm of Egypt’s environment ministry. 'They are now critically in danger of extinction…(as a result of) climate change and human activity.'
Archaeologists first learnt of the argun palm from ancient Egyptian texts, and its dried fruits were frequently found among the gold and offerings recovered from pharaonic tombs. But it was long assumed that the prized palm had vanished along with the pharaohs.
Then in 1837, a German naturalist and explorer, Prince Paul Wilhelm von Wurttemberg, stumbled across a previously unidentified palm species in the wilds of northern Sudan. Biologists recognised the mysterious palm as the same tree whose fruit had been found in pharaonic tombs, and realised the argun palm had somehow survived the centuries.
But the future of the species was anything but certain. While more of these enigmatic palms were soon discovered in northern Sudan, by the early 1900s it had once more disappeared into obscurity. It was not until 1963 that the species was sighted again — this time in the arid hinterland of southern Egypt.
Comprehensive surveys over the last two decades have revealed 30 individual argun palms in Egypt, and several hundred living in northern Sudan.
'The argun palm survives, but its population is under heavy pressure,' says Irina Springuel, professor of plant ecology. 'Unless protected, the species could disappear — and this time for good.'
According to Springuel, the main population of argun palms in Sudan is at risk of overexploitation by local tribes, who use the palm’s fronds to weave rope, mats and baskets. In Egypt, the species is threatened by drought and increasing human activity.
At Dungul Oasis, where a stand of 25 argun palms constitutes the only productive wild site in Egypt, desertification has taken a toll on the local population.
'There were 34 argun palms there when I began studying the species in 2000, so we have lost nine palms in the last 10 years,' says Ibrahim. 'Those nine were seedlings that couldn’t survive; their roots couldn’t reach water.'
A more insidious threat is the steadily growing level of human activity in the small oasis, which is located about 220 kilometres southwest of Aswan.
During a visit last year, Ibrahim found that a fire had ripped through vegetation at the eastern end of the oasis. The blaze, believed to have been set by careless hunters, came to within a kilometre of the argun palm cluster, which includes the only two fruit-bearing females in the country.
'All of these argun palms grow in an area covering less than 100 square metres,' says Ibrahim. 'One fire would be enough to destroy all of them.'
The EEAA is now studying a proposal to include the country’s main population of the argun palm within a protected nature area. The proposed protectorate would cover between 6,000 and 8,000 square kilometres, encompassing Dungul Oasis and nearby Kurkur Oasis.
This remote, uninhabited stretch of desert is a refuge for the endangered palm, as well as several threatened species of animals including Dorcas gazelles, ostriches, and possibly small herds of Nubian ibex.
Mahmoud Hasseb, EEAA’s director of South Area Protectorates, says the decision to seek protected status was prompted by increasing human activities in a vulnerable ecosystem beyond the purview of environmental policing.
'For several years we’ve seen evidence of tourists and hunters visiting this area,' he told IPS. 'When we visited in 2009, we collected the bones of dead gazelles and found dozens of palm trees had been burned. It became clear that this ecosystem was at risk.'
Efforts are also under way to conserve the argun palm through an ex-situ nursery programme established in 2003. Environmental researchers at South Valley University have successfully cultivated 21 juvenile palms in the university’s conservation garden near Aswan. It is hoped the palms will produce viable offspring that can be transplanted to various desert locations where the argun palm is historically documented to have grown.
'When the seedlings are strong enough we will attempt to reintroduce them to the wild,' says Ibrahim.
(*This story is part of a series of features on biodiversity by Inter Press Service (IPS), CGIAR/Biodiversity International, International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ), and the United Nations Environment Programme/Convention on Biological Diversity (UNEP/CBD) - all members of the Alliance of Communicators for Sustainable Development.
© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service