My First Glimpse into the Oasis

Nothing prepared me for my first glimpse of the Oases of the pre-Sahara. After hours of watching the terrain get progressively drier it seemed almost impossible that the earth would open up into the vibrant greens that were before me. The photo below will I hope give a small indicator of how truly massive this ecosystem is.

It was explained over the next several days of our trip that an oasis is not a natural ecosystem. While a small number of plants will hug the edge of most any desert river, an oasis will spread out as far as the local community can sustainably grow it. Starting with an unmodified river mud is dredged and mixed with organic material to start the process of manufacturing soil. This soil is used to plant the first palm trees, which will act as the upper layer of the canopy and provide the necessary protection for other plants to follow in suit. After the palms, in the case of the oases we visited Date Palms, fruit trees of varying types will also be planted, providing the middle layer of the oasis. At the very bottom is a network of small irrigation plots to allow for different seasonal vegetables and fruits to be grown. A truly critical element in oasis development is the private ownership of every tree and plot of land, nothing is communal. This style of ownership has persisted for centuries and developed into strict caste systems that dictate who may own what and where. This value system is preserved into the 21st century by a decades old decree from Morocco's Monarchy stating that in the oases’ old tribal laws are allowed to remain, while in almost every other part of the country more modern laws have been put into place.
While ownership of the plants of the oasis is very fragmented, with some families only owning a fraction of a tree it is still possible for those families to live off of the revenue produced by that single plant.