Egypt’s deserts hold a treasure trove of plants upon which the survival of many species depends. The rise of climate change threatens the North African nation’s endemic flora and the ecosystems it sustains. Despite the grim backdrop, Gabriel Mikhail sheds light in his upcoming documentary, The Desert Gardener, on an unsung hero whose contributions are invaluable to the Egyptian conservation effort: a university lecturer who has dedicated her life to conserving and rehabilitating desert plants. Mikhail is an architect who has spent more than a decade documenting and celebrating Egyptian wildlife and the culture of its Bedouin guardians. His active social media presence has shed light on several of Egypt’s buried natural treasures. “Desert plants, despite being an essential source of sustenance for wildlife and neighboring Bedouin communities, are often overlooked,” Mikhail said during an interview with Egyptian Streets. The reduced rainfall and increasingly arid climate in the Egyptian desert ecosystems, brought on by climate change, unsustainable developments, coupled with the overcollection of desert plants for their medicinal value, pose a grave risk to the survival of desert plants. The Desert Gardener “Over the years, the protagonist, whose identity I…
“The Desert Gardener”: a Tale of Conservation and Rehabilitation of Egypt’s Desert Plants
August 5, 2023
