My farm has existed for almost 90 years when Italians occupied Libya and brought the land back to life.

Ali al-Nuri, farm owner

northern Italy, the tree — known a sole al eu co car pa—grows olives that keep their light colour even when ripe.

But Tar hun a only has five or six specimens, planted by the Italians.

In the absence of scalable production, the white olives— sweet, with a low acidic content and a distinct scent — are mixed with their bog- standard cousins to produce oil.

Only two percent of Libya’ s 1.7 million square ki lo metres (650,000 square miles) is ar able land, in a country famed for vast swathes of desert.

It boasts more than eight million olive trees, according to the agriculture ministry.

To the east of Tar hun a lies the Ms all at a region known for its centuries- old olive trees that yield distinct sweet and strong tasting oil.

But it has been hit by urbanisation in recent decades.

Cutting down olive trees had been strictly forbidden before Kadhafi came to power in 1969, said Mokh tar Ali, whose farm includes 600-year- old specimens.

And the chaos that has engulfed the country since Kadhafi’s fall has further diminished the stock of trees.

Nowadays “olive t rees a re torn up with impunity to make charcoal or to replace with concrete,” Ali said.

But he remains optimistic, seeing a silver lining in attempts by several farmers top reserve the country’s heritage, by either planting native species or importing new trees from Spain. — AFP