Tchirozerine, Niger
The Ténéré wastelands of northeastern Niger were once populated by a
forest of trees. By the 20th century, desertification had wiped out all
but one solitary acacia. The Tree of Ténéré, as it came to be called,
had no companions for 400 km in every direction. Its roots reached
nearly 40 m deep into the sand.
When Michel Lesourd of the Central Service of Saharan Affairs first
came upon the tree in 1939, he wrote: "One must see the Tree to believe
its existence. What is its secret? How can it still be living in spite
of the multitudes of camels which trample at its sides? How at each
azalai does not a lost camel eat its leaves and thorns? Why don't the
numerous Touareg leading the salt caravans cut its branches to make
fires to brew their tea? The only answer is that the tree is taboo and
considered as such by the caravaniers. There is a kind of superstition, a
tribal order which is always respected. Each year the azalai gather
round the Tree before facing the crossing of the Ténéré. The Acacia has
become a living lighthouse; it is the first or the last landmark for the
azalai leaving Agadez for Bilma, or returning."
