Oman’s flora and fauna in focus at MIBF

Muscat, Feb. 23 - Oman’s wealth of more than 1,400 plant species is on the spotlight at the Muscat International Book Fair 2020. The Research Council’s Oman Plant and Animal Genetic Resources Centre (OPAGRC) is participating at the book fair with their publications. According to the centre’s officials, the publications are from research collaborators from Sultan Qaboos University and from OPAGRC. There are books on marine sciences and plant sciences. In the future there could be books on animal sciences and microorganisms as well, according to the OPAGRC officials. One important book is Socioeconomic Plants Conservation Strategy for the Sultanate of Oman.

Covering three diverse topics, the informative and educational volumes are certain to be of interest to students, academics, environmentalists and conservationists as well as members of the general public keen to find out more about the nature that surrounds us, approaches to its protection and the possibilities it holds to contribute to our future well-being and economic development. The first of these volumes, the Socioeconomic Plants Conservation Strategy for the Sultanate of Oman, has been produced by OAPGRC in conjunction with the Oman Botanic Garden, Oman Natural History Museum and the UK’s School of Biosciences.

“Oman is rich in plants with more than 1,400 plant species recorded. However, we do not know how these plants can be used socially or economically. So what we collaborators did was to classify the plants to different groups. So we have about 440 species of medicinal plants, 200 species of ornamental plants, 180 species of forest and woodland species and 100 species for food and agriculture. So more than 75 per cent of the known species have value,” explained Dr Ali al Lawati, Plants Specialist at OPAGRC.