Tree of the week: 'This mango tree provides food – and brings people together'
Tom Skirrow discovered this magnificent mango tree on a trip to Burkina Faso in 2018. He was spending the week in the tiny village of Torem, home to 781 people, as part of his work as director of operations for Tree Aid. “If I ever wanted to find anyone, that was the tree I went to,” he says. “It was the place to have a conversation or a meeting.” Underneath its branches, villagers also prepared food and did other work.
The tree provided delicious fruit, but it also gave people somewhere to escape the intense sunlight and scorching heat – temperatures could reach 40C (104F). Skirrow, 39, would often find refuge in its shade. “Imagine stepping out of a very bright, cloudless environment, where you’re almost squinting to be able to see, into a very dense-leaved tree where it’s almost too dark and you have to adjust your eyes. You’ve got this cooling feeling because you’ve been in the heat – it’s almost like stepping into a cave.”
Tree Aid is a charity that supports impoverished people in Africa. It helps them to grow and protect trees for themselves and future generations. “I spend a lot of time talking to people in some of the hardest places to live on the planet about what makes their relationship with the trees and the environment around them so crucial,” says Skirrow, who is originally from Bristol.
Sadly, during his visit, the mango tree wasn’t in season, so he couldn’t try its fruit. The villagers depend on the juicy mangoes it provides during March and April. “Most of their staple crops come in October after they have grown during the rainy season in September. By March and April, they don’t have many staple crops left, so the fruit from the tree is really important.”
Many women in the village are involved in the production of shea butter, which is used for cooking and cosmetic purposes or sold. They often gather underneath the mango tree to make it. “They grind the oil out of the nut and churn it. A lot of women take turns to do the manual labour, which is quite intensive, and would be pretty sweaty working in the sunshine.”
For Skirrow, watching the different ways the villagers used the tree was inspirational. “It has made me realise there’s so many levels of benefit something like a single tree can have. It can provide nutrition; it can help people and it can bring people together. To me, that’s a special thing, and it’s quite a privilege to be part of it.”
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By March and April, they don’t have many crops left, so the fruit is really important