Salalah – Environment Authority (EA) will set up a nursery in the wilayat of Rustaq, South Batinah governorate, in ongoing efforts to increase green space.

An official of EA said, “As part of the national initiative to plant 10mn wild trees in ten years, that started in 2020, the authority has offered a tender to establish a nursery in Rustaq.”

The deadline for submitting bids is Thursday.

Besides increasing the number of wild trees and green cover, EA hopes to raise awareness on the importance of preserving indigenous species among community members through the national initiative. Continuing the national initiative to plant 10mn wild trees, the Directorate General of Environment in Dhofar has so far plant 1,042,250 seeds of wild trees in the mountains of the governorate.

As part of national initiative, the EA aims to plant seeds of indigenous species of trees for which Dhofar is known in 35 locations across the wilayats of Taqah, Mirbat, Salalah, Rakhyut and Dhalkut.

The species include sidr, taeq, squt, arir, aloebar and ghaf. EA’s efforts to increase vegetation cover in natural and pastoral areas have been carried out with the help of its employees and 382 volunteers.

EA launched the second phase of the programme to plant 1mn wild tree seeds in the governorate in early July; the first phase was held in June 2021.

In January 2020, EA, in cooperation with Petroleum Development Oman, launched the national initiative to plant 10mn wild trees in the next ten years.