Starting from 2021 the International Day of Argania will be observed annually across the globe on 10th May.
Background:
i.The United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) adopted the resolution A/RES/75/262 on 3rd March 2021 and proclaimed the 10th May of Every year as the International Day of Argania
ii.The resolution was submitted by Morocco and was co-sponsored by 113 member states of the UN.
Efforts of UN towards the conservation of Argan Trees:
i.In 1998, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the endemic production area of Argan Trees as the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve.
- Arganeraie is one of the hundreds of UNESCO designated biosphere reserves
ii.In 2014, all know-how regarding the argan trees was inscribed on the ‘UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’.
iii.In 2018, the FAO recognised the Argan-based agro-sylvo-pastoral system within the area of Ait Souab – Ait Mansour in Morocco – the region where the argan trees were cultivated for centuries – as the ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System’.
About Argan Tree:
i.The Argan trees, endemic to Morocco, are cultivated using ancient agroforestry practices like Matifya, a rainwater reservoir carved into a rock.
ii.Argan Tree – Argania spinosa- is a native species of the sub-Saharan region, Morocco.
iii.This is the defining species – Arganeraie – of the woodland ecosystem.
iv.The tree can survive in temperatures up to 50-degree Celsius and can grow up to 10 meters in height and live for around 200 years.