[Source: UAE Interact ]

Fifty ghaf trees were planted in the Sweihan desert on Thursday after an online campaign encouraged environmentally-inclined residents to plant virtual seedlings - for every 10 planted on the internet a real tree was placed in the ground. 

In total more than 3,500 virtual trees were planted during the campaign launched by the Emirates Wildlife Association and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF).
Ten clusters of five trees were planted around the National Avian Research Centre in Sweihan and another 50 trees will soon be planted at the Sharjah Desert Park. 

The ghaf (Prosopis cineraria) is popularly known as the umbrella tree or the tree of the dunes.
It is an indigenous evergreen desert tree and can be found in the eastern part of Abu Dhabi Emirate and northwards into Dubai and the northern emirates. Apart from the UAE, it is also found in other eastern desert regions as well, such as Iran and Afghanistan Rashmi de Roy from WWF said so far EWS-WWF is only planting saplings for the first 1,000 virtual trees. 

According to Mohammad Nawaz Khan, director of the forestry department and technical affairs from the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi the soil and sand in the eastern region is the best as it is fine and "sweet sand" that contains good nutrients for plants. 

"This area is selected because it is sheltered from the direction of the wind as it is not good for newly planted trees. We will irrigate them maybe 10 times and keep an eye on them," said Khan. 

He said the ghaf tree was the UAE's native tree and in the hot summer months is the only tree that remains lush green. 

"It's a heat-loving tree."
Above land the tree will only grow about 70 centimetres over five years.
For more information or to plant a ghaf tree, go to www.savetheghaftree.org. (Gulf News)