By Abdirahman Abdilahi
Across the drylands of Somaliland and Somalia, few trees are as closely woven into the lives of Somali people as Galool, scientifically known as Vachellia bussei, formerly Acacia bussei. It is a tree of pasture, shelter, tools, fuel and tradition. Yet the very quality that has made it valuable—its durable wood and excellent charcoal—has also made it one of the most heavily exploited trees in the Somali drylands.
Galool is not merely another tree disappearing from the landscape. Its decline threatens an entire dryland system on which pastoral livelihoods, livestock production and ecological stability depend.
A tree with many lives
For generations, Somali pastoral communities have used Galool in remarkably diverse ways. Its wood has been used for construction, poles, tool handles and traditional household structures. Its roots have been used for hoops in the aqal, while its bark and fibres have served in mats, ropes and other traditional materials. The tree is also browsed by livestock, and its flowers are an important food source for camels at the end of the rainy season.
Its importance extends beyond direct human use. Galool belongs to the dry Acacia–Commiphora vegetation that characterizes large areas of the Horn of Africa. Such trees provide shade, browse, habitat and protection for the soil. When woody vegetation is removed, the bare ground becomes increasingly vulnerable to wind and intense rainfall, accelerating land degradation and desertification. FAO has documented this connection between charcoal production, loss of tree cover and increased soil erosion in Somalia.
The charcoal paradox
There is a painful irony at the centre of Galool’s decline.
The tree is highly valued because its wood produces excellent charcoal. Kew’s botanical information, drawing on Flora of Somalia, records Acacia bussei as producing excellent charcoal, while other sources describe its charcoal as particularly valued.
That makes Galool economically attractive to charcoal producers—but ecologically vulnerable.
FAO has reported that larger and denser trees are preferentially selected for charcoal production and identified Acacia bussei as a preferred species. UNEP has likewise described the species as a slow-growing hardwood that became a backbone of Somalia’s charcoal trade.
The problem is therefore not simply that people cut trees. It is that the most valuable trees for charcoal are often precisely the mature trees that a woodland needs for regeneration, seed production and long-term ecological stability.
When mature Galool disappears faster than new trees can establish, a woodland can gradually become a degraded landscape.
Why erosion can become a second killer
Galool has an unusual root strategy that helps explain both its strength and its vulnerability.
Research and botanical documentation indicate that the species develops extensive lateral roots close to the soil surface—an adaptation that allows it to take advantage of brief rainfall events in an arid environment. One documented account describes lateral roots extending many metres horizontally while remaining relatively shallow. This architecture is effective for capturing water from short rain showers, but it also leaves the roots vulnerable to trampling, compaction and soil erosion.
This creates a vicious cycle.
First, trees are removed for charcoal and fuelwood. The protective vegetation cover becomes thinner. Grazing pressure and runoff can further disturb the ground. Wind and heavy rainfall then remove the exposed topsoil.
As the soil surface is lowered, Galool’s shallow lateral roots can become exposed.
Once exposed, roots that were designed to function beneath the soil are subjected to intense heat, drying and physical damage. The tree may lose part of its root system, suffer stress and eventually die.
In other words, erosion does not merely remove soil around Galool; it can undermine the very root system that allows the tree to survive in an arid climate.
This is why protecting Galool cannot be separated from protecting the soil beneath it.
A regional problem, not only a Somali one
Galool is not confined to Somaliland and Somalia. The accepted scientific name is Vachellia bussei, and its native distribution includes Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.
The pressures vary from place to place, but the species occurs within dryland ecosystems exposed to many of the same challenges: wood harvesting, charcoal production, grazing pressure, land degradation and climatic stress.
Historical FAO documentation lists A. bussei across Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania and records its extensive use for fuelwood, charcoal, livestock feed, construction and traditional materials.
Recent research from Ethiopia also shows that Vachellia bussei remains part of the ethnobotanical knowledge and use of Somali communities in the country’s Somali Region.
The regional lesson is clear: the future of Galool should be considered within the wider dryland ecology of the Horn of Africa rather than as an isolated Somali issue.
What does the IUCN say?
Here, an important distinction is necessary.
The IUCN Red List currently classifies Vachellia bussei as Least Concern (LC) at the global level. Kew’s Plants of the World Online records that IUCN assessment.
That classification should not be interpreted to mean that Galool is safe everywhere.
A species can be classified as Least Concern globally while particular populations are declining severely in specific regions.
Indeed, botanical sources specifically note that Galool is threatened by overexploitation for charcoal in many areas. Recent ethnobotanical research in Sheikh District, Somaliland, lists Vachellia bussei as locally overharvested for charcoal and construction while simultaneously recording its global IUCN status as Least Concern.
This is an important warning for policymakers: global conservation status and local ecological reality are not the same thing.
A tree does not need to be globally endangered before its disappearance becomes a serious national environmental and economic problem.
A long record of knowledge
Galool is not an understudied tree in the broad botanical sense. It appears in major references on Somali and East African vegetation.
Flora of Somalia, associated with Mohamed Thulin and colleagues, documents Acacia bussei and its distribution, morphology and ecology. Kew’s current taxonomic record retains Acacia bussei as a synonym of the accepted name Vachellia bussei.
The species is also covered in Flora of Tropical East Africa and historical FAO literature concerning the rural economy and uses of Acacia species in the Horn of Africa. These sources document its importance for livestock, charcoal, construction, household materials and pastoral life.
More recent work has examined charcoal-driven degradation in Somalia. Studies and reports have repeatedly identified A. bussei among the principal species targeted for charcoal production.
So the scientific and historical record already tells us something important: the value of Galool has been known for generations; what is now urgently needed is stronger conservation action and better local monitoring.
The price of losing Galool
The disappearance of Galool would not simply mean fewer trees on the horizon.
It could mean less dry-season browse for livestock, less protection against soil erosion, reduced habitat for wildlife, loss of traditional materials and greater vulnerability of pastoral communities to drought.
There is also a broader environmental cost. When mature woody vegetation disappears, the land can become progressively less capable of supporting grazing and other livelihoods. FAO and UNEP have both linked unsustainable charcoal production with deforestation, land degradation and declining resilience in Somalia’s drylands.
For a society whose economy and culture remain deeply connected to livestock and the rangelands, this is not an abstract environmental concern.
It is an economic concern. A food-security concern. A pastoral livelihood concern.
And ultimately, it is a question of whether future generations will inherit functioning rangelands or landscapes where the trees that once anchored them have disappeared.
Saving the tree requires more than planting trees
Planting new Galool trees is valuable, but planting alone cannot solve the problem.
Conservation must address the pressures killing mature trees in the first place. That means reducing destructive charcoal harvesting, improving access to affordable alternative household energy, protecting remaining mature Galool stands, controlling damaging land degradation and encouraging natural regeneration where possible.
Soil conservation is equally important. Where erosion is exposing roots, measures that slow runoff, retain topsoil and restore ground vegetation can help protect the ecological conditions on which Galool depends.
Communities must also be part of the solution. The people who have lived with Galool for generations possess knowledge about its uses, habitats and behaviour that should complement modern ecological research.
Most importantly, Galool should be treated not merely as a source of charcoal but as natural infrastructure—a living asset that stores ecological value in the landscape.
The choice before us
Somalis have long depended on Galool because it is exceptionally useful.
But that usefulness has become its vulnerability.
The same dense wood that makes excellent charcoal, the same branches that provide valuable fuel, the same roots that serve traditional purposes and the same foliage that feeds livestock have made the species increasingly exposed to human pressure.
The choice is therefore not between people and trees.
The real choice is between using Galool in a way that allows it to survive, or consuming it faster than the drylands can replace it.
The global IUCN assessment may say Least Concern. But on the ground, a different question matters: Are there enough mature Galool trees left, are they regenerating, and will today’s landscapes still contain them decades from now?
That is a question Somaliland and the wider Somali region can no longer afford to ignore.
Galool has survived drought, heat and harsh dryland conditions for generations. Its greatest challenge may now be whether people can learn to value the living tree more than the charcoal it becomes.
Sources and further reading: Kew’s Plants of the World Online and Flora of Somalia; FAO/SWALIM materials on charcoal and land degradation; UNEP reporting on Somalia’s charcoal trade; Flora of Tropical East Africa; and recent ethnobotanical research from Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia.
