Olive groves: The life and identity of the Mediterranean

Olive tree cultivation in the Mediterranean goes back to ancient times. Even since the Roman Age, olive cultivation spread to the entire Mediterranean basin. This longevous tree integrates and identifies economically, socially, and culturally the inhabitants of this basin and determines its rural landscape. For the residents of the Mediterranean, olive oil constituted the main source of nutritional fats, their most valuable export product, and was identified with their culture. Even now, olive cultivation has a multiple importance for the Mediterranean. The olive groves, which grow mostly on inclined, shallow, and low fertility soils, and on hand-made stone terraces, have limited watering requirements and sustain the fragile natural resources of the Mediterranean. Today, olive cultivation in the Mediterranean is an additional income source and supports the population in rural areas during the winter period, which profit from summer and sea tourism activity. Although an agro-ecosystem, the olive grove resembles the natural Mediterranean ecosystem and abandonment transforms them into natural Mediterranean type forests. Their change of use from olive cultivation to pasture degrades the ecosystem and decreases the natural resources, because of over-grazing. At this time, two major factors threaten the traditional olive cultivation (i) the competition of the intensive olive groves in plain and irrigated areas and (ii) the cheaper seed-oils, which intensify the abandonment of traditional olive groves and change them into pasture, resulting in the deterioration of the ecosystem. Olive cultivation has left its mark on life in the Mediterranean and has contributed to the sustainability of natural resources. Nevertheless, it succumbs under the pressure of current socioeconomic situations. Today, the conservation of olives in production constitutes a necessity for the fragile Mediterranean ecosystems and a challenge for everybody involved.