The National printed the UAE's first plantable newspaper for the nation's 50th

The National wanted to mark the UAE's 50th anniversary and encourage a more sustainable UAE, symbolised by the Ghaf, the national tree the late Sheikh Zayed planted in the 70s to 'greenify' the desert.

The special National Day edition, launched on 2 December 2021, was made entirely of seed paper, vegetable oil and Ghaf tree seeds — completely biodegradable and meant to be planted. Only 50 copies existed; The National's Instagram competition asked UAE residents to share how the country helped them grow their dreams, and winners planted their copies under the Give a Ghaf tree-planting programme.

50 Ghaf Papers were made, won through the competition; each can grow into a Ghaf tree able to live for the next 50 years. No reach or circulation figures reported.

adobo Magazine reported on 10 December 2021 that The National and Havas Middle East had conceptualised and printed the UAE's first 'plantable' paper, #TheNationalGhafPaper, in celebration of the UAE's 50th National Day. Launched on 2 December, the edition symbolised the Ghaf, the UAE's national tree that the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan planted in the 70s to 'greenify' the desert.

The paper was made entirely of seed paper, vegetable oil and Ghaf tree seeds — completely biodegradable and meant to be planted in the UAE's land, eventually growing into a Ghaf tree that can live for the next 50 years. The operation was supported by the Give a Ghaf tree planting programme.

Only 50 Ghaf Papers existed. The National's social audience in the UAE could win one through an Instagram competition on @TheNationalNews that called on residents to share their stories of how the UAE helped them grow their dreams — winners sowing 'the seeds of the next 50 years'. Head of marketing and communications Mireille Puskulian said the paper honoured the nation's sustainability vision and the Ghaf as 'an emblem of union, hope, life, and stability'.

A golden-Jubilee edition wanted permanence; a tree that outlives the readers gives the anniversary a body.

Seed paper turns the newspaper's usual fate — the bin — into an act of planting.

Limiting the edition to 50 copies made the paper a prize rather than a product.

The Ghaf tree tied a foreign-born, expat-heavy readership to the nation's founding story.

Make the medium the message literally: a sustainability story told on a medium you bury rather than bin — the edition's afterlife is a tree.

The edition launched on 2 December 2021 for National Day; competition winners planted their copies under the Give a Ghaf programme. No results beyond the 50 copies were reported.