Surveys of biological resources have tended to focus on rain forests. It has been found, however, that plants living in arid areas contain, as an adaptation to a harsh environment, a considerable quantity of useful substances such as antioxidants. The marginal land of arid regions in Northern Africa has largely been overlooked by such surveys, despite the presence of a diverse range of unique organisms there. Noting this situation, the researchers surveyed the characteristics of arid lands in North Africa, taking note of such aridity-contributing factors as temperature, soil salinity, water, sunlight and wind. And, with regards to organisms with a strong resistance to this environment, we also surveyed vegetation distributions and microbial resources. Additional efforts were directed to a survey of market patterns for medicinal and other plants of North African origin. Using those results to focus our attention on a select few such substances, we comprehensively analyzed them for composition and subjected them to multidimensional functional searches, compiling our results in a database. ARENA operates in Africa under the permission of governments there. We have a collaborative framework in place and conduct research together with universities and government organizations in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, and Morroco.