Monday 02 / December / 2024
Salalah: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Environment Authority, celebrated the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which falls on June 17 of each year.
To focus on women's rights to own land, the slogan for this year is "Women's land, their rights".
On this occasion, the Environment Authority, represented by the Directorate General of Environment in Dhofar Governorate, implemented an initiative titled 'Desert Shadows', which is part of the national initiative to plant 10 million wild trees in the Sultanate of Oman.
The initiative aims to develop an action plan to make the best use of the places near artesian wells, by revitalizing the tourism and economic aspects of those areas, in addition to planting them with wild trees that suit the nature of the desert such as Ghaf, Sidr, and Cactus; for their multiple uses and benefits to the environment. It will help increase green areas and reduce temperatures and carbon emissions.
For his part, the Assistant Director General of Environment in Dhofar, said: "The initiative comes within the first phase of the director's plan targeting a number of areas in Najd and desert."
He added that the current stage of the initiative came in cooperation with the offices of their excellencies the governors and the private sector, and the wilayats of Thumrait and Muqshin.
A senior specialist at the General Directorate of Environment in Dhofar Governorate and head of the Desert Shadows Initiative team, explained that the idea of the campaign came from the Environment Authority, represented by the General Directorate of Environment in Dhofar, sensing the importance of cultivating remotely Areas located in Najd and the Dhofar desert.
The plan is to provide places of shade near artesian wells and take advantage of these places to make them attractive to citizens and tourists.
The Head of Biodiversity Department at Al Nadab, stated that the initiative comes in line with the objectives of the national plan to plant ten million trees in various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman over a ten-year period.
He pointed out that about 50 local trees were planted in the Barkanah 1 area in the Al-Hashman district located in the Empty Quarter, which had become a hotspot for tourists during the winter tourism season.
