The Environment Agency inaugurated the first wild tree planting sites in the Mina Al Fahal area as part of the national initiative to plant 10 million wild trees, which was launched on January 8th with the support and initiative of the Petroleum Development Oman.
The launch of this cultivation comes within a series of other campaigns that will be implemented in the various governorates of the Sultanate during the coming period, after work was done in the previous period to expand the nurseries, establish new nurseries and supply them with seeds from the recently established seed bank, and work teams were formed in cooperation with the community to collect These seeds are of various types of wild trees in the Sultanate.
Since the announcement of the initiative, the authority has sought to produce healthy seedlings that are suitable for the environment and withstand difficult climatic conditions in the appropriate places for them, and the focus has been on the well-known wild trees in the Sultanate, including Al Ghaf, Al Samar, Sidr, Shua, Al Tiq, Talha, Al Mitan, Aloe Vera, Al Sarh, Al Alal and others, according to the appropriate environments and climate. To grow it.
In this regard, Dr. Thuraya Al-Clinri, Assistant Director-General for Nature Conservation, said that today is witnessing the planting of the first group of Omani wild seedlings within the project of the National Initiative to plant 10 million wild trees in the Mina Al-Fahal area, and this project was launched at the beginning of the year coinciding with the celebration of the Omani Environment Day with a memorandum. An understanding between the Environment Agency and the Petroleum Development Oman.
Al-Cliniah stressed during her speech that the first goal of this project is to rehabilitate degraded areas, preserve biodiversity and increase the green area to create a public outlet for everyone, which also supports the tourism side, and during the project period of 10 years, we hope everyone will participate, whether it is the private or government sector, civil society and individuals. And contribute to the success of this project.
On the other hand, Nabil Al Lawati, Head of the Compliance and Environmental Impact Department at PDO, said that this initiative was launched last January in cooperation between the Environment Authority and PDO in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two parties, and today we celebrate the planting of the first sites with 1,800 seedlings of different wild trees. There is continuous coordination with various parties in the Sultanate
Al-Lawati added that this year is considered the foundational for this national initiative, and we are preparing nurseries in cooperation with the authority by expanding the nurseries and adding new ones, and then we move to planting seedlings in the various governorates of the Sultanate, and there is great cooperation from all ministries, bodies, NGOs and individuals to contribute to this initiative, and we aspire That everyone contributes to this national initiative, and it is known that the Omani citizen is linked to agriculture, conservation and environmental protection.
It is worth noting that this initiative aims to increase and improve the vegetation cover in pastoral and degraded natural areas, raise awareness of the importance of increasing the green space and its benefits to the environment and society, and the contribution of all segments of society in preserving the natural environment, as well as the possibility of economically benefiting from some plant species, and it also aims to activate Community participation in preserving wild plants and preserving plant diversity, as part of the initiative's vision, which will continue for 10 years until 2030.