Baobab trees imported from Australia, not Madagascar
TREES IN AL SEEF DISTRICT IMPORTED FROM AUSTRALIA, NOT MADAGASCAR
The strange-looking trees in Dubai’s Al Seef historical district that piqued the interest of tourists and residents last month are baobab trees imported from Australia, landscaping experts involved in the project told Gulf News.
Last month, Gulf News reported that people were curious about the origin of the trees with wide bottle-shaped trunks and entangled branches and contacted Dubai Municipality’s Parks and Horticulture Department for answers.
An expert identified the trees as Adansonia grandidieri, known as Grandidier’s baobab from Madagascar. However, Josef Perner from Australia has confirmed that his company Cycad International supplied the trees and they are of the Adansonia gregorii species from Kimberley in the northernmost tip of western Australia.
“It is the only baobab found in Australia,” Perner said, adding that Cycad International saves the trees when land is cleared for agriculture by finding projects and customers interested in using them.
Perner’s local partner James Palmer, who previously worked with WT Burden Middle East, and was present during the planting of the trees in Dubai, said the trees have been supplied to other places in Dubai.
“There are three next to the Four Seasons Hotel at the entrance to Jumeirah Bay Island, and another three opposite the entrance to the Bulgari Hotel (and Resorts) on Jumeirah Bay Island,” Palmer said.
Following this, four trees were imported for the then developing Al Seef project. Thereafter, another three were imported for the roundabout near the Ruler’s Court and historical Al Fahidi district, according to landscape architecture firm Cracknell, which was responsible for the landscape design, sourcing and coordination of locations in Al Seef.
‘Astonishing landscape’
It was an idea to create an “astonishing landscape” that led Cracknell to search for such trees on the internet, explained Maarten Venter, senior director. “While searching for what is defined as an ‘astonishing landscape,’ I discovered images of the Madagascar baobab. Upon research, we got to know that the Madagascar baobab is endemic and a protected species and cannot be exported.”
Cracknell then contacted Cycad International for the Australian baobab. “The trees were selected for their unique ■ FAJR character, the sculptural form ‘never seen before in Dubai’ and the ability to adapt to the UAE climate,” said Venter.
Estimated to be between 150-500 years old, Palmer said, these trees were uprooted and transported in flat-bed trucks to ports in Darwin or Brisbane and shipped to Jebel Ali port in 40-feet open-top containers, with one tree per container.
“They are very rarely exported due to limited availability. These will probably be the last ■ in the UAE and possibly the last exported from Australia ever again,” said Palmer.
Though they are not endangered, Perner said his company has a special licence to uproot and transport the trees. “The whole journey of relocating a baobab tree takes months, including the quarantine period of two weeks,” said Perner.
“We do everything legally with proper documentation, right from numbering them for registration, pruning them, uprooting them, transporting them thousands of kilometres by road and containerising them for shipping.”
In the case of the trees in Al Seef, the whole journey took three months, said Venter.
The experts said the baobabs come from a very hot area in the north of Australia and are very well suited to the Dubai climate. The succulent trees store water and are deciduous and hence require less water than a palm tree over a year.
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