Land Degradation in the Sultanate of Oman: Reasons and Intervention Measures - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 401

In Phase 1 the current status of physical environment, rangeland resources, the
livestock sector, the inhabitants, and the services and facilities available are mapped
and analyzed.
Phase 2 consisted of analysis of the data to determine the main issues, constraints
and opportunities for the further use of land range resources; examination and
constraints: and the practical problems involved in the execution. The general
characteristics of the rangelands and livestock as mentioned by the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries is as follows:-
The lack of animal food resource (fodder) is considered one of the most serious
constraints to livestock development in Oman, especially that the growth rate of the
latter has reached an acceptable amount of 3.3 % during the last two decades. The
total number of livestock increased from 1,029,227 in 1982 to 1,408,178 in 1993
and to 2,025,000 in 2005. Natural rangelands are considered a major nourishment
source for these animals, providing 37 % of dry substances. Next to that is the
concentrated processed fodder (31 %) then the irrigated fodder (27 %) and finally
the agricultural residues (5 %) The explanatory data of the FAO estimate the
capacity of natural range lands and other fodder resources (mentioned above) in the
Governorate of Dhofar (the largest natural rangeland area) to be 2.8 times less than
the livestock density during the survey. According to that, the rate of overgrazing has
reached (65 %) which is extremely high, because once it reaches (30 %) it causes
land degradation, accelerated soil erosion and deterioration of rangeland quality
and productivity. Due to the significance of the natural rangelands in developing
livestock, the Five-Year Development Plans have shown a great interest in a number
of projects that aim at stopping desert encroachment and preservation of rangelands.
Some of the measures being implemented are:

- Controlling and monitoring grazing in Dhofar by applying the fencing system.

- Forest development programs in Oman and afforestation where it is feasible.

- Comprehensive agricultural development in the Najd, which is the greening of

an arid area.

- Falaj restoration and maintenance.

- Development of groundwater monitoring networks. To assess recharge and

abstraction (draw down)

- Assessment of brine water resources.

- Developing the monitoring of the brackish water overlap.

- Controlling the leaky wells in Najd of Dhofar.

- Establishing aquifer recharges.

- Protecting agricultural lands from floods.

It is worth mentioning that all the above programs have been carried out
by the Ministry's departments without any additional outside help, considering
that it contacted a number of international organizations, such as (ICARDA) and
(ACSAD) in order to implement joint projects, but the lack of finance prevented the
implementation of desertification projects.