Muscat: The General Directorate of Environment in the Governorate of Dhofar, in cooperation with the civil volunteer teams, carried out an environmental campaign to protect the giant and rare baobab trees from the harmful effects of pests and insects. Some of these trees were estimated to be more than 300 years old.
Baobab tree, whose scientific name is Adansonia digitata, is a rare, perennial tree that is in danger of extinction. Oman’s Dhofar region has around 200 baobab trees that grow up to a height of 15 meters with trunk diameter of about two meters.
Dhofar region commands a rich flora and fauna with such valuable and rare trees, which are found in different states in the regions such as the Hashir area in the Wilayat of Mirbat, as well as in the Wilayat of Dhalkut in the Western Region.
Ahmad Bin Abdullah Al Saiari, Director-General of the General Directorate of Environment in the Governorate of Dhofar, said in a statement to the Oman News Agency that the Environment Authority, in cooperation other relevant official teams and a group of volunteers monitored more than three months ago, the appearance of the leg borer bug on some giant baobab trees.
A field survey was carried out last year to determine the extent of the insect’s spread and to take an inventory of infested trees. He added that the project was approved at the governorate level by forming a field team and allocating a budget for this project. The action plan involved extracting bugs and insects from the trunk with stem excavators and coating the trunk with red mud.
