Oak trees in Sweida; an ancestral memory

Thousands acres of evergreen oak forests have been protected for a long time, creating a rare natural painting and an ancestral memory for the people of Sweida.

The tree which has been grown in the area since about two hundred years, offers a refreshing healthy air saturated with Oxygen. This characteristic makes oak a symbol of purity, a destination for visitors to enjoy the beautiful sites and a natural hospital to the skin and pictorial diseases.

Oak tree farms occupy wide area in Sweida governorate, with more than three Million trees, representing 70 % of the prevalent trees of the governorate natural forest.

Besides, resisting the cold, growing in the poor lands and light- intimate, the oak tree lives more than 300 hundred years.

Its heavy, solid and harsh wood is used particularly in blackening, when extracted; its bark is used in tanning and for the medical and food usages.

 Apart from the charm beauty it gives to the sight, oak trees play an important role in bringing rains, purifying the air and preserving the environmental balance.  Every one hectare of oaks absorbs 13 to 17 tons of carbon dioxide per year, gives 10 to 13 tons of oxygen and reduces the evaporation in soil from 700 to 1000 cubic meters per year and the speed of the wind from 30 to 60%.

Thanks to all these merits, the oak tree is deeply rooted in the land and the memory of our ancestors. 

Khaled falhoot