Muscat: Al Mughsayl, one of the popular tourism destinations in the Dhofar Governorate because of the cliff with blowholes, is now home for plantation of frankincense trees.
The location for the frankincense plantation trees is Mudam, in the Al Mughsayl area and the initiative is taken by the Environment Authority (EA).
The first phase of planting frankincense trees is being implemented in the frankincense garden in the area and according to EA, it is part of a group of environmental parks planned to be implemented to grow the most prominent wild trees in the Dhofar Governorate.
Hatim bin Salim bin Kalshat al Mahri, Director of the Nature Conservation Department at EA in Dhofar Governorate said, “There is a fence and an irrigation network, and specialists follow up on the germination process.”
The plantation can accommodate more than 11,000 trees and the dedicated land is an area of 181,000 square metres.
During the first phase, 500 frankincense trees were planted, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MoAFWR), the Nature Conservation Society, and the local community.
As of now the trees that will be planted will continue to be frankincense trees, said Yasser bin Mohammed Rafeet from Information Department at EA.
According to Al Mahri, it will take about a year to become full fledged trees and about three to four years for the trees to produce the resin. But currently the focus is to grow the intended number of trees.
He said the location was chosen because it provides an ideal habitat for the frankincense trees.
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