A tree is so common in our lives that few people turn their heads and take a look. But what if this tree is the only one in a desert with a radius of hundreds of kilometers?

schematic diagram

On April 22, Shaanxi Province announced that the rate of desertified land governance of Yulin has reached 93.24%, which means that Mu Us Desert will soon "disappear" from the Shaanxi territory!

Mu Us Desert

A tree is so common in our lives that few people will turn their heads and take a look. But what if this tree is the only one in a desert with a radius of hundreds of kilometers? Moreover, it is the desert of Africa.

Taineth Tree in the Desert.

Africa Niger Tenere Desert is the harshest section of the Greater Sahara Desert Area. And in the middle of this barren land, a love tree actually grew. The "Taine Thunder Tree", which is estimated to be more than 300 years old, has become a beacon for travelers in the vast desert, the only plant that will be painted on a 4 million to 1 map, and the "holy tree" in the eyes of locals. Until that day...

Sahara Desert

1

Taineth Tree: Guide the direction for camel caravans, marked on the map with a scale of one million

Schematic diagram

In the center of the Sahara Desert, the average temperature is 40 degrees Celsius. Under the scorching sun for more than 4,000 hours a year, the land is dry and hot. The sand temperature is sometimes as high as 80 degrees Celsius, which can almost roast eggs.

Schematic diagram

Even if it is not suitable for living, there have been still camel caravans composed of nomadic peoples since ancient times. Every year, they must transport supplies from the desert grasslands of West Africa to the Mediterranean coast of North Africa to trade with European merchants. What you need to travel through this is the Sahara Desert. In the sea, there is a lighthouse guiding the shore; but in the desert, only the stars are dotted with darkness.

The sand dunes in the Tainere Desert near the Birma

The most severe section of the road is in Niger, the area called Tainere. In the local Tuareg language, "Tenere" means desert, just as " Sahara " means Arabic. So, Tainele is the desert in the desert. In the vast desert, it is very difficult for nomad merchants to find the way to the oasis Bilma. If you go wrong in one direction, it may be the difference between life and death.

The former Mali Empire

However, in the middle of the barren land in the Tainere Desert in Niger, Africa, a Acacia tree actually grew. No one knows how it grows, when it sprouts, and how it grows into a 3-meter-high tree.

Schematic diagram

May 21, 1939 A Sahara general, Mike Lesold, saw the tree of Teneri at the location between Agadez and Birma. He believed that the tree could survive until now without being cut down the branches by the caravans passing through the desert to make fire, or the caravans let the camels eat its leaves because the caravans have regarded it as a symbol; and used it as a beacon to guide the direction when passing through the desert.

taken in 1961, the Tree of Tainelei

has been regarded as a landmark in the Tainelei Desert since it was discovered. Never a tree is marked on a map with a scale of more than 4 million, except for it. This acacia tree is naturally called the "Taine Thunder Tree", a tree in the desert.

Tiannelei Desert

For many years, the Tree of Tainelei has been sticking to its post. How can a tree survive in this dry and hot environment?

Tenelei Desert

No one is watering and caring for, there are no living objects around, only a piece of yellow sand. Moreover, the wind blows fiercely, and the wind and sand that devours everything is like the end of the world. The Taineth Tree is lonely, and the other trees closest to this tree are more than 400 kilometers away. Looking around, nothing is within sight and is regarded as the most isolated tree in the world.

Tiannethi tree is marked on the map.

In the 1930s, someone tried to dig a well and found that there was a water layer 33-36 meters deep underground. This also means that the roots of the tree were tenaciously laid down at least 30 meters before they could replenish the evaporated water and resist the blow of strong winds.

West Africa

French ethnologist and explorer Henry Lott mentions the Tree of Tynele twice in his book "The Epic of the Terrey Desert". The first time was in 1934. Although the tree of Tainethi looked a bit lesions, there were still green leaves and yellow flowers growing. The second time was on November 26, 1959. The Thunder Tree in Tainei was already scratched by a vehicle; and the appearance was significantly different from that in 1934.

Niger

2

2

Worship of trees in West Africa: the willful and personalized baobab holy tree

Niger river

In West Africa, people always respect trees and worship trees that are regarded as spiritual pillars. Every city has its own holy tree. For example, the sacred bread tree in Bonfora, southwest of Burkina Faso.

To visit the sacred bread tree, you must first obtain the tree's consent.

Bread, or Baobab, is easily regarded as a holy tree by the locals. Because of its huge size, the trunks of many century-old divine trees have a diameter of more than 10 meters and a height of 30 meters. They are elephants among the trees and kings on the grassland. In the world of "The Little Prince", a bread tree occupies a planet. During the dry season, the leaves fall out and the dry branches spread their teeth and claws, so some people also call them Devil Trees.

West Africa

Visiting the sacred bread tree in West Africa requires the consent of the tree. But how to get permission from the tree? In fact, it is necessary to get the approval of the tree's guardian.

Generally speaking, the guardian of the tree needs to ask for instructions on the sacred bread tree, and he needs a live chicken, kill the chicken on the spot to sacrifice it, and dedicate it to the holy tree. If the holy tree agrees to the request, the blood from the chicken will spray onto the trunk, otherwise, it will reject the request.

Western Africa

Holy trees in Africa include bread trees, acacia, mango trees, palm trees, etc., which may be worshipped by the locals because of their sparseness, hugeness, and resoluteness until...

Desert

3

The image ambassador of the Sahara Desert: Survive in the harsh desert, but cannot defeat humans to destroy

1961

The tree of life in the Tainele Desert encountered an unexpected accident in 1973. A Libyan truck driver was drunk driving, and in an empty desert, the tree was the only thing that could hit.

Schematic diagram

It is said that he was reversing drunk, and there were several other nomadic people next to him shouting at him in various languages, "Be careful of that tree!" As a result, he still bumped into it without bias. The tree broke in half on the spot and failed to survive.

taken in 1985 and replaced the tree-like metal products of Tainelei Tree.

This tree is estimated to be about 300 years old. It guides people's direction. It is a beacon of life and an ambassador of the Sahara Desert. Not afraid of the desert environment, but not against human destruction, has become a historical picture.

Schematic diagram

This accident was highly valued by Niger, and the sadness of the locals was just like Notre Dame's Cathedral to the Parisians. The remains of the Tainerei tree, which died of injury on November 8 of that year, were transferred to the museum in Niamey, the capital of Niger, for display for future generations.

Museum in Niamey, the capital of Niger,

However, the difference is that no matter how much money you have, you cannot rebuild the Tree of Thunder. Where the original growth of the Tainelei tree was erected a tree-shaped carving made of metal as a substitute. Isolated in the middle of the desert, it was blown down several times, and later it was added that it could barely resist the heat and wind and sand of the Sahara.

Commemorative Stamp

In 1974, Niger launched a commemorative stamp, and the protagonist is this beacon of life.

Perhaps it was because of worrying that a Tainei Leaf tree was too lonely. In 1998, Japanese artist Katsuyuki Shinohara designed a "Wind Tree" with metal and glass media a few meters away from it to accompany the Tainei Leaf tree. The trees are carved with N, S, E, and W representing four directions: southeast, west and northwest.

Tenelei Monument and later the Tree of Wind.Although these two sculptures lack the life temperature of the original trees, they have more human reflection and longing.

In 1991, UNESCO listed the Tenere Desert and the neighboring Adel Nature Reserve as a world natural civilization heritage, writing that "this area has the most important diverse organisms, has the value of conservation or scientificity, and protects endangered species", making it hard not to remember the historical significance of the Tenere Tree.

Schematic diagram

The next year, UNESCO changed the Tainele Desert to an endangered world heritage site. Among the ecological species and natural landscapes that are gradually disappearing in this desert, the Tainele Tree will always be the first to be mentioned.

Schematic diagram

Now, West African countries are preparing to build a longitudinal expressway across the Sahara Desert, crossing Niger from Nigeria and leading directly to the Mediterranean coast of Algeria .

Niger

The landform of the Sahara Desert will be completely changed, and the early business travel mode will disappear forever. The Tree of Taineth will become a past tense due to the development of human transportation, both in form and in spirit.

Schematic diagram

No matter how humans master the world, trees are the guardians who have been silently stationed on this land.