Oman Environment Day today

Muscat, Jan 7 - The Sultanate will celebrate the Omani Environment Day on Monday. The ceremony will be held on the basis of the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, reflecting the great role played by the Sultanate in preserving and caring for the environment. January 8 is an annual event in which the Sultanate celebrates developments at local and international levels in the field of environmental protection. It also affirms the participation of Omani society, including government and private institutions, to protect and conserve natural resources. The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs will begin with a programme to be held in Dhofar Governorate on Monday. The choice of this governorate is to back the efforts made to protect the nature of the governorate as it contains many natural reserves. The ceremony will be held under the auspices of Shaikh Salim bin Aufit al Shanfari, Head of Dhofar Municipality. Two films will be screened at the ceremony on sustainable development and biodiversity of Oman. A presentation highlighting environmental issues such as overfishing, desertification, environmental and marine pollution will be made on the occasion. The event will also see an environmental exhibition to be launched with participation from 12 government and private institutions as well as youth initiatives. On Tuesday, a seminar will be held under the auspices of Najib bin Ali al Rawas, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, at the Sultan Qaboos Cultural and Entertainment Complex in Salalah. A competition for children will be held in one of the commercial malls in Dhofar Governorate, which will include cultural, educational and recreational activities. On January 15, a beach and coral reef cleaning campaign will be held in Mirbat with participation from Royal Oman Police (ROP), municipalities, Civil Defence, diving clubs, volunteer teams and the community. To mitigate desertification, the ministry will also conduct a campaign to cultivate wild and local plants on January 22 in cooperation with the national parks. Zainab al Nassri