THE ROLE OF DATE PALM TREE IN IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT

Over the history date palm tree has played a major role in the life of human beings. It has been used as a source of food, building houses, and landscaping. It has been cultivated alongside rivers, springs, and wherever water is available. The date palm tree has played and is still playing a significant role in Muslims’ life in general and Iraqi’s in particular since it represents the food, shelter, garden, shade and orchard for them. The role of the tree has increased when growers realized that the tree is salt and drought tolerant, in addition to its impact in combating desertification. The tree can decrease the atmospheric temperature and the level of pollutants resulted from industrial activities. The symmetric shape of the date palm tree has added another dimension to its impact on future improvement of the environment. These aspects and others will be discussed through this paper.