Muscat: The Environment Authority (EA) celebrated the Gulf Wildlife Day this week under the slogan, 'Balance of life, it’s harmony with nature and its protection.'
The celebration included visual presentations about the authority’s efforts to preserve wildlife in the Sultanate of Oman in partnership with various entities.
On the sidelines. an exhibition displaying handicrafts made from natural resources was held. It also highlighted a group of initiatives related to enhancing social responsibilities in protecting wild life.
It was only just few days ago when the Environment Authority released a video of a family of Sand Fox in the Arabian Oryx Reserve in Al Wusta Governorate. It is locally called as Al Aws or Al Hussaini.
Khalid al Balushi, who once had a close encounter while driving at night said, “I was driving at night from Al Amerat to Al Sharqiyah, and had just entered Qurayat and a fox crossed the road very fast. It could have caused an accident, but couldn’t find it later. We have to keep them in mind while driving.”
Protection of wildlife also means protecting their habitats. And Oman has reserves, which are protected areas such as the one for the Arabian Oryx, which was one of the first environmental initiatives taken as part of the renaissance.
Recently there was a workshop on updating management plans for the Jabal Samhan and Western Hajar Starlight Reserves, which also had the participation of experts from the Royal Jordanian Society for the Conservation of Nature.
The workshop discussed efforts to preserve the reserve and the most important solutions to overcome the challenges, in addition to reviewing a number of working papers.
The workshop examined the possibility of improving environmental standards and looked at ways to enhance the capabilities of local professionals in the field of nature protection and conservation, stated the authority.
Every year the Gulf Wildlife Day is marked on December 30th.
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