Date Palm Plantations: A Future Sustainable Support to Forests

: The date palm plantations are among the most dispersedly distributed plantations in the world (37 countries in 5 continents). Taking the world dates production as a criterion, the cultivation of date palms is expanding with time (the paper includes an equation for estimation). The date palm represents a Keystone species and the tree of life creating in arid and semi-arid regions a microclimate that offsets the effects of drought and allows the intensification of agriculture and intercropping that increase productivity of water and profits per unit area (the paper includes a case study of technical and economic feasibility study of intercropping with date palms in New Valley governorate, Egypt). The date palm plantations represent a sustainable well-managed plantations secure from threats of fire in traditional forests. Besides, the date palm is capable of absorbing carbon dioxide and thus contributing to decrease the deleterious consequences of climate change (the paper includes an estimation of CO 2 absorption). In addition, the fruits of the date palms (dates) could effectively contribute in the realization of food security.