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Number of Trees in Southern Sahara Exceeds Previous Expectations

A lone camel walks in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A lone camel walks in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
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Number of Trees in Southern Sahara Exceeds Previous Expectations

A lone camel walks in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A lone camel walks in Niger's Tenere desert region of the south central Sahara on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The southern Sahara and the Sahel are home to more trees than thought, which have a "crucial role" in biodiversity and people's lives. An international research team has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) pattern recognition program to count trees with a plant surface of more than 3 square meters, from over 11,000 high definition satellite images, AFP reported.

Over an area of 1.3 million square kilometers in the south of the Sahara, the Sahelian strip, and sub-humid zones in West Africa, they were able to count more than 1.8 billion trees, the researchers wrote in the journal Nature.

Based on the findings, the average tree number is 13.4 per hectare, with a median plant cover of 12 square meters. The researchers noticed that this vegetation, certainly sparse, "plays a crucial role for biodiversity and for the ecosystem as carbon storage, food resources, and shelter for human and animal populations."

"Although the total vegetation cover is low, the relatively high density of isolated trees calls into question the prevalent idea of desertification of drylands, as even the desert could offer a surprising density of trees," they added. The density increases as it descends towards the wetter areas in the south, from 0.7 trees per hectare in the "hyperarid" areas to 9.9 in arid zone, 30.1 in semi-arid zone, and 47 trees per hectare in subhumid zone. In addition to this count, the study offers a new method to study the presence of trees outside dense forest areas, and in particular their role in climate change mitigation and potentially poverty, through their contribution to agricultural systems.

"This kind of data is very important to establish a base. And in two or ten years, we could repeat the study to see if efforts to revitalize vegetation are effective", one of the researchers, Jesse Meyer from the NASA explained in a statement.

"The used artificial intelligence technique also suggests that it will soon be possible, within certain limits, to map the location and size of all trees. This information is fundamental to our understanding of ecology on a global scale," estimated Niall P. Hanan and Julius Anchang of the University of New Mexico, in an analysis of the study.

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Tunisia Women Herb Harvesters Struggle with Drought and Heat

A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Tunisia Women Herb Harvesters Struggle with Drought and Heat

A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)
A woman harvests aromatic and medicinal plants in the mountains of Tbainia village near the city of Ain Drahem, in the northwest of Tunisia on November 6, 2024. (AFP)

On a hillside in Tunisia's northwestern highlands, women scour a sun-scorched field for the wild herbs they rely on for their livelihoods, but droughts and rising temperatures are making it ever harder to find the precious plants.

Yet the harvesters say they have little choice but to struggle on, as there are few opportunities in a country hit hard by unemployment, inflation and high living costs.

"There is a huge difference between the situation in the past and what we are living now," said Mabrouka Athimni, who heads a local collective of women herb harvesters named "Al Baraka" ("Blessing").

"We're earning half, sometimes just a third, of what we used to."

Tunisia produces around 10,000 tons of aromatic and medicinal herbs each year, according to official figures.

Rosemary accounts for more than 40 percent of essential oil exports, mainly destined for French and American markets.

For the past 20 years, Athimni's collective has supported numerous families in Tbainia, a village near the city of Ain Draham in a region with much higher poverty rates than the national average.

Women, who make up around 70 percent of the agricultural workforce, are the main breadwinners for their households in Tbainia.

- 'Yield less' -

Tunisia is in its sixth year of drought and has seen its water reserves dwindle, as temperatures have soared past 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas during the summer.

The country has 36 dams, mostly in the northwest, but they are currently just 20 percent full -- a record low in recent decades.

The Tbainia women said they usually harvested plants like eucalyptus, rosemary and mastic year-round, but shrinking water resources and rare rainfall have siphoned oil output.

"The mountain springs are drying up, and without snow or rain to replenish them, the herbs yield less oil," said Athimni.

Mongia Soudani, a 58-year-old harvester and mother of three, said her work was her household's only income. She joined the collective five years ago.

"We used to gather three or four large sacks of herbs per harvest," she said. "Now, we're lucky to fill just one."

Forests in Tunisia cover 1.25 million hectares, about 10 percent of them in the northwestern region.

Wildfires fueled by drought and rising temperatures have ravaged these woodlands, further diminishing the natural resources that women like Soudani depend on.

In the summer of last year, wildfires destroyed around 1,120 hectares near Tbainia.

"Parts of the mountain were consumed by flames, and other women lost everything," Soudani recalled.

To adapt to some climate-driven challenges, the women received training from international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to preserve forest resources.

Still, Athimni struggles to secure a viable income.

"I can't fulfil my clients' orders anymore because the harvest has been insufficient," she said.

The collective has lost a number of its customers as a result, she said.

- 'No longer sustainable' -

A recent study by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) highlighted how climate-induced damage to forests had severely impacted local communities.

"Women in particular suffer the consequences as their activities become more difficult and arduous," the study said.

Tunisia has ratified key international environmental agreements, including the 2015 Paris Climate Accord.

But environmental justice researcher Ines Labiadh, who oversaw the FTDES study, said implementation "remains incomplete".

In the face of these woes, the Tbainia harvesters, like many women working in the sector, will be forced to seek alternative livelihoods, said Labiadh.

"They have no choice but to diversify their activities," she said. "Relying solely on natural resources is no longer sustainable."

Back in the field, Bachra Ben Salah strives to collect whatever herbs she can lay her hands on.

"There's nothing we can do but wait for God's mercy," she said.