Palm Heaven

Driving around Morocco we’ve come upon palm trees sprouting in the middle of the road on many occasions. Out in the countryside, we tend to think nothing of it, though in the middle of Marrakech, when our taxi driver swerves - horn blaring - into oncoming traffic to avoid a palm tree protected by an enormous brick planter, it’s a bit unnerving.

It turns out, that it is against the law to cut down a palm tree in Morocco, and that only the King can make exceptions (the US Embassy was allowed to cut down two palms, but only because they were male trees, and did not produce seeds.) The trees provide food and shade, and the fronds are used extensively in construction. Their beauty is considered part of the heritage of the country, so for one person to cut what belongs to all Moroccans is prohibited.

In fact, large tracts of land surrounding Marrakech, which seem ideal for building, remain vacant in the midst of a construction boom, and the culprit seems to be an abundance of palm trees. Palms ringing the perimeter of a piece of land effectively guard it from development, and too many palms dotting a plot make it difficult to design a building that can avoid the trees.

In the meantime, in a bustling city, the exhilaration of sharing the road with pedestrians, cyclists, mopeds, donkey carts, horse carriages, taxis, buses and more is made even more extreme, as all of the above must remain alert to finding a palm in the path.