Celebrating UNESCO World Olive Tree Day

When is World Olive Tree Day?

World Olive Tree Day was proclaimed at the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2019 and takes place on 26 November every year.

"The olive tree is therefore a universal tree, which has accompanied humanity for thousands of years, embodying its aspirations; because with its legendary longevity and ability to rise from its ashes, it reaches beyond the short-sightedness of the moment: planting an olive tree and eating its fruit is to join the chain of humanity".

Audrey Azoulay Director-General of UNESCO.

Ancient olive groves are being destroyed

In many parts of the Mediterranean, there is a growing trend for farmers to pull out their oldest olive trees - most of which are well over 300 years old - to replace them with plantations of new, genetically-modified varieties which hope to produce a higher yield (but a lower-quality olive oil) and offer a more cost-effective harvest process for the farmer.

A lot of research is being done on these new tree varieties, to improve and adapt them to challenges like climate change and pests, as well as to increase productivity, profitability and resilience. However, while the theory of “olive grove renewal” might sound good, in practice there is so much more to it.

The loss of biodiversity and soil degradation in these regions are two major issues which are all-too-often overlooked in the quest for greater production.

Loss of biodiversity and habitat

Over the centuries, the oldest olive trees have adapted to the harsh climate and the lack of rainfall, sending their roots deep down and holding the soils together. These ancient olive groves have often become a local ecosystem in their own right, with the soils full of insects and birds nesting among the trees.

The favoured nesting site for one of Europe´s most beautiful birds, the Hoopoe, is the tree trunk base of these very old olive trees.

Soil degradation a big issue

The newer olive plantations are often treated with pesticides (and chemical fertilizers) which further reduce the quality of the soil and its ability to absorb and retain rain water. The new trees require irrigation, especially in the first few years, as they don’t have deep, established root systems; using up precious water supplies in such an arid region.

Soil degradation is now thought to be one of the key drivers of climate change. So much so, the EU´s newly-passed “Soil Monitoring and Resilience Directive” has the stated aim of restoring and protecting soils across Europe by 2050.

Why Etico olive oil matters

At Etico, we want to help preserve ancient olive trees and the traditional methods of olive farming. There is currently a lot of pressure on our local small-scale olive farmers to turn to this more intensive farming.

By paying farmers more for the oil produced from their traditionally-farmed old trees, we enable them to preserve the original olive varietals (which make the best oil), helping to make the soil more resilient and drought-resistant too. Plus, these beautiful old trees - which are both drought-resistant and produce the finest olive oils - are usually then just chopped up and sold off as fire wood. What a terrible waste.

Read more about Our Purpose.