The Second Date Palms & Humans in the Desert conference took place in the Arava Desert

On December 4-5, 2024, the Date Palms & Humans in the Desert conference occurred at the Vidor Center in the Arava desert of southern Israel. 
The symposium was the second conference to have taken place on the topic of desert-borne heritage dates in Israel. The first conference occurred two years ago and focused on date palms at natural springs and resulted in the forming of the Guardians of the Date Palm – an expanding group of dedicated professional and semi-professionals enthusiasts who aim to the rescue and preserve the surviving date palms that  grow adjacent to natural springs in the deserts of Israel.
Focusing on the Central Arava, the activities of the Guardians of the Date Palms serve as a hub for applied research, educational activities, and citizen science initiatives conducted by the Arava Institute, the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, and the Central & Northern Arava-Tamar R&D Center. Many of these efforts are coordinated with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), KKL-JNF (Jewish National Fund), the Volcani Institute, the University of Haifa, and diverse local community members.

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Goals of the Humans and Date Palms in the Desert Conference

This year’s conference aimed to expand the community of date palm enthusiasts by bringing together researchers from academic institutions and agricultural practitioners. It sought to raise awareness of heritage date varieties, explore their cultural history, understand their culinary benefits, and document methods for their use and preservation. Our aim was to bridge the theoretical and practical aspects of date research: from laboratory studies to applied fieldwork to in-situ practicum. 
The conference was organized by the Bustan Tree research project (managed by the University of Haifa), in collaboration with the Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, the Arava Institute, the Arava Drainage Authority and its Eastern Negev counterpart. We are thrilled to have united a wide variety of partner organizations for a collaborative and meaningful event.

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Conference Highlights

The symposium featured researchers from various disciplines who presented lectures on numerous interrelated topics:

• The ancient and modern history of date palms;

• The archaeology of date palms;

• Date culinary preparation methods, as detailed in historical Arabic cookbooks.

• Additional lectures from the fields of plant and environmental sciences focused on the unique ecology of the date palm in the Arava and the changes in environmental conditions over the past decades. These factors have placed the remnants of the date palms in immediate and severe danger of extinction, requiring more significant intervention – documentation and applied preservation – to save them. 

• Numerous food researchers and chefs also participated, introducing attendees to various date varieties and sharing the traditional knowledge and culinary traditons embedded in the heritage date varieties.

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Concluding Panel and the Establishment of the Date Palm Route

The conference concluded with a panel discussion on the importance of preserving the cultural landscapes of the date palms in the desert. Panel members examined ways to promote a joint initiative to establish the Date Palm Route. This route would connect the historic and modern date trails that are a bridge between archaeological sites, feral date palms growing by local springs and other sorts of historic cultivation centers. The route aims to spotlight the cultural heritage and natural importance of the date palm, a cultivar that is an integral component of the regional landscape. The Date Palm Route would also serve as a foundation for both local and regional collaborative development centered on educational and tourism projects aimed at fostering shared development opportunities.​​