Environment Authority launches campaign to protect perennial trees from insect pests in Dhofar

Muscat :The Environment Authority (EA) has launched a campaign to protect perennial trees from insect pests in the mountains of Dhofar Governorate.

In its tenth campaign, the EA in cooperation with the Dhofar Municipality and the Nature Conservation Society, plans to combat pests that harm the environment and perennial trees in the mountains of Dhofar Governorate.

The drive aims to preserve the vegetation cover and ensure its sustainability with help from the local community.

The first campaign to combat harmful pests in old trees began in the Hashir area of the Wilayat of Mirbat in 2020, targeting 10 percent of the infected trees.

Talib bin Ali Al Abri, Acting Director General of the General Directorate of Environment in Dhofar Governorate, said that the methodology for controlling insect pests depends on a number preventive steps, especially for the 'figs' represented by the Taiq, in addition to other species such as baobab, mitan, and sagoot trees.

Field surveys have shown that they are most affected by insects.

Al Abri pointed out that the stem borer insect or stem borer beetle/termite/ is one of the most common pests that are controlled in many ways.

Among them is cutting off some dead branches from infected trees, manual cleaning, and spraying trees with insecticides that are not harmful to plants, in addition to embalming limestone on tree trunks to protect them from insect larvae infiltrating them.

Al Abri explained that the tenth campaign to combat insect pests during the year 2024 targeted more than 1,000 trees in the Wilayats of Salalah, Taqah, and Mirbat.

It is expected that the number of targeted trees will reach about 2,000 this year.

The Acting Director General of the General Directorate of Environment in Dhofar Governorate confirmed that the Environment Authority is working on a number of measures to protect and propagate wild plants in Dhofar Governorate through tree nurseries, protected cultivation operations, in addition to planting and dispersing seeds in wild areas, and pruning and protecting perennial trees.

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