Give a Ghaf to celebrate the UAE National Environment Day

Goumbook.com, the region's leading environmental website, is proud to launch the "Give a Ghaf" Tree Planting Programme in partnership with Ecoventure to raise public awareness about the Ghaf and its values, while encouraging people to plant trees.

This year National Environment Day is dedicated to the "vibrant Desert", the perfect occasion to focus the attention on the wild Ghaf, a beautiful, valuable tree identified with the Arab tradition. The Ghaf is a drought - tolerant, evergreen tree that is, possibly, the sturdiest plant of the harsh desert environment. In the UAE it can be seen growing on low sand dunes mostly in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah.

Today, however, the Ghaf is being over-lopped and over-grazed to destruction. Ghaf groves are succumbing to urbanization and rapid infrastructure development. An accelerating decline in Ghaf trees and woodlands would imply a loss in cultural and biological heritage, and Goumbook wants to lead its conservation by giving the opportunity to plant the wild Ghaf and preserve its aesthetical, cultural and ecological significance.

"This tree is one great survivor! Fierce temperatures, searing winds, high rates of water loss...the Ghaf tolerates them all" says Tatiana Antonelli Abella, Goumbook's co founder, "The Ghaf is a multipurpose tree of arid lands that is even considered a solution to desertification".

The Ghaf stabilizes dunes while it improves soil. What is more, it propagates itself by providing new shoots from parent root systems. Flowers, fruits, leaves, bark, branches and roots of Ghaf - all provide resources and habitat for a variety of native fauna and flora, making the tree a keystone species.

"The Ghaf plays such an integral part of the food chain in the ecosystem, that if it disappeared, it would cause the ultimate extinction of other species in that same system" adds Matthew Cocks, Ecoventure's General Manager.

Goumbook and Ecoventure, in association with the UAE Environment and Protected Areas Authority, have launched the "Give a Ghaf" programme to encourage people plant Ghaf trees and help protect one of the world's most valuable symbols of the living desert. Later, when the trees will be big enough, they will be given back to the local community and donated to parks, schools or urban areas where natural shade and greenery are needed.

For more information:

About Goumbook FZ LLC:
Goumbook, is the Middle East's first online green business directory and only dedicated portal for environmental initiatives. Www.goumbook.com currently hosts over 3,000 web pages and offers visitors and listed members a range of tools covering the latest environmental news, directory listings, events, products and green jobs and green map.

Goumbook is committed to exploring and exploiting new and existing ways to promote the Green Movement, including participation in international exhibitions, conferences and other relevant events, and is also responsible for organising and hosting events taking place within the UAE, including the annual Future Green Exhibition in Dubai.

www.goumbook.com , contact@goumbook.com

About Ecoventure:
Ecoventure Field Study Programmes give students from all walks of life the opportunity to take part in experiential outdoor learning. Our classroom is in the mangroves between the estuarine channels or in the desert amongst the Ghaf Trees. We strive to give students insight into the unique diversity and natural beauty of the United Arab Emirates.

www.ecoventureme.com