Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Muscat: In its drive to increase the green cover around its projects, the management of the Special Economic Zone in Duqm (Sezad) is embarked on planting more trees in service streets and parks, utilising modern irrigation systems and making the best use of treated water.
Abdullah Al Alawi, a member of Sezad Afforestation and Landscaping Department, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that Sezad carried out 100 per cent of its project to plant 5,000 trees by the end of 2023.
The project included a total of 5,718 trees and featured landscaping of about 34,000 square metres, said Al Alawi, noting that Sezad Authority has allocated OMR2.393 million for the project.
Between 2025 and 2026, the authority plans to plant about 5,000 more trees in the zone, Al Alawi added.
He explained that the agricultural nursery in Duqm, whose area is estimated at 5,000 square metres, constitutes a primary source of trees that are compatible with the nature of the project.
Al Alawi pointed out that Sezad management allocated several investment lands to establish agricultural nurseries in the zone.
To this effect, the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (Opaz) joined hands with the Environment Authority to utilise one of these lands to establish a wild plants nursery, said Al Alawi.
He added that the nursery serves an initiative to plant 100,000 wild trees in Al Wusta Governorate and augment the National Initiative to plant 10 million wild trees.
By mid-2024, the green area is set to cover an area of more than 50,000 square metres of different types of trees that adapt to climatic conditions in the region, said Al Alawi.
