UNESCO Board Endorses 'World Olive Tree Day'

The exec­u­tive board of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has rec­om­mended that November 26 of every year be cel­e­brated as World Olive Tree Day.

The res­o­lu­tion was adopted last week at the exec­u­tive board’s 206^th ses­sion in Paris fol­low­ing a pro­posal put for­ward by Lebanon and Tunisia.

Following the adop­tion of the res­o­lu­tion, Sahar Baassiri, the Lebanese ambas­sador to UNESCO, reminded del­e­gates of the his­tor­i­cal, mytho­log­i­cal and sym­bolic sig­nif­i­cance of the olive tree. The Tunisian ambas­sador, Ghazi Gherairi, added that the tree is a uni­ver­sal sym­bol of peace.

“[The olive tree is] a sym­bol of peace between men and a sym­bol of human activ­ity in peace with nature,” he said.

The exec­u­tive board said that it ​“wel­comes and endorses the rec­om­men­da­tion to pro­claim November 26 of each year the World Olive Tree Day.”

The board has now asked the direc­tor-gen­eral of UNESCO to sup­port the res­o­lu­tion, which will be included on the agenda of the 40^th ses­sion of the UNESCO General Conference this fall where it will be put to a vote.

The board said that the annual cel­e­bra­tion of World Olive Tree Day ​“will help to pro­tect this ancient plant and pre­serve its long-stand­ing value,” and empha­sized the sig­nif­i­cance of the olive tree as a uni­ver­sal sym­bol of peace and har­mony.

“A wreath of olive branches is embla­zoned not only on the flag of the United Nations, but also on the flags of other orga­ni­za­tions and states,” mem­bers of the board wrote in pub­lic notes. ​“Today, the olive tree is grown on six con­ti­nents and con­tributes to the sus­tain­able eco­nomic and social devel­op­ment of many coun­tries and to the preser­va­tion of nat­ural resources.”

The res­o­lu­tion points out that the tree is a com­mon artis­tic theme, hav­ing inspired poets, writ­ers and artists through the ages. It cites the 6,000-year-old his­tory of olive tree cul­ti­va­tion in the Mediterranean and the fact that the olive tree is now grown in 56 coun­tries.

It also alludes to the tree’s impact on sus­tain­able eco­nomic and social devel­op­ment by employ­ing mil­lions of men and women, as well as the nutri­tional and health val­ues of the olive fruit.

Finally, the role played by the tree in envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion is high­lighted: it pre­vents deser­ti­fi­ca­tion, pro­tects against ero­sion and has the poten­tial to increase atmos­pheric car­bon diox­ide fix­a­tion in the soil.

• UNESCO


• Tunisian Monitor