Environment Authority Registers 485 Species of plants in Western Al Hajar Mountains

Muscat, Aug (ONA) --- The Environment Authority has registered 485 species of plants in the Western Al Hajar Mountains range.

The new plants are discovered in the natural vegetation cover, open forests, shrub lands, semi-evergreens and some pastoral areas.

Eng. Sulaiman Nasser Al Akhzami, Director General of Nature Conservation at the Environment Authority, pointed out that the Western Al Hajar Mountains range (Al Hajar Al Gharbi) houses about 33 percent of Oman’s plant species that exist at an altitude of more than 1,500 metres above sea level.

Of these, 14 are endemic species that are not found anywhere else in the region, Al Akhzami added.

These types of plants play an important role in providing habitats for wildlife and contributing to ecosystem services, like regulating the flow of surface water and maintaining soil stability. Such plants, including Tapiscia trees, are also used as raw materials in the field of popular medicines.

---Ends/Bishara/AG