Morocco is known internationally for the argan tree. However, there is another type of endemic tree which characterizes the south of Morocco and which is little known. This is the dragon tree of Ajgal.
At first glance, the Ajgal dragon tree looks nothing like the trees you can see every day. However, like the argan tree, it is an original plant in the kingdom. More than 10 meters high, its shape is unique. The species is endemic and only exists in the province of Tiznit and in the Canary Islands.
The Ajgal dragon tree was discovered in 1996 by Fabrice Cuzin, professor and biologist, and Abdelmalek Benabid. This species nests in the high cliffs of Jbel Imzi and Adad Medni (province of Tiznit), crossed by the Assif Oumarhouz. This part is difficult to access with a rocky relief, an isolation which could explain the late discovery of this species which is very well known in the Canary Islands.
Song-de-dragon
The Ajgal dragon tree area is part of the unesco tentative list since 1998. “Endemic pre-steppe to pre-forest ecosystem, unique in the world for its richness in endemic plant species such as Dracuena draco subsp. ajgal (Dragon tree of Morocco) and Argania Spinosa (Arganier), rare or remarkable; its landscape of exceptional beauty (important cliffs of the Imzi and Adad-Medni djebels), is enhanced by the presence of cave paintings executed with the blood extracted from the trunk of the dragon tree”, can we read on the site of the UN agency .
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The ajgal dragon tree, an endemic species in southern Morocco. / Ph Ajgal Association for Environmental Protection
The Moroccan news site Ecologie.ma specifies that the gum-resin extracted from the trunk of the Ajgal dragon tree is called “dragon’s blood” because of its scarlet red color, that it can be used locally for “the manufacture of certain varnishes and tinting”. In addition, the cave paintings of animals from the surrounding regions, “were made from these dyes”. Concerning Ajgal, the name is in tachelhite and means “apiary”.
Contacted by Yabiladi, Larbi Barouane, regional curator of cultural heritage in Agadir indicates that the area of the Ajgal dragon tree, “a natural heritage” is only part of the indicative list of Unesco, “but is neither classified nor listed as national heritage. According to the official, “there is no concrete action for the preservation of this tree, a species unknown, except by the locals”. According to our interlocutor, there are few associations “that work to raise awareness about the conservation of this tree, but for those that do, they fight tooth and nail for it to be protected and registered as national heritage” .
© Provided by Yabiladi
However, there is an association which, through its specialty, tries to work to make known the dragon tree of Ajgal: the philatelic association of Agadir and the south. The NGO fought with Barid Al Maghrib to issue a stamp illustrated with the tree in question. “This year, a stamp exists with the effigy of the dragon tree of Ajgal. We have fought for many years to achieve our goals,” says Yabiladi, Rachid Zaki, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Philatelic Association of Agadir and the South. The opportunity for him to denounce the use of trees as apiaries “which lead to their deterioration”.