SULTANATE OF OMAN MINISTRY OF REGIONAL MUNICIPALITIES AND ENVIRONMENT CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY FIRST NATIONAL REPORT Prepared by the Directorate-General of Nature Reserves December 1997 CONTENTS Item Page Executive Summary Participation in Planning 5 and Reporting Processes Status and Trends a Summary 6 Biogeographic Zones and Ecosystems 6 Species 8 Mammals Ungulates 8 Mammals Carnivores 9 Birds 11 Turtles 11 Fish 11 Corals 12 Plants 12 Major Causes of In-situ 13 Biodiversity Loss Direct Causes of Biodiversity Loss 13 Overgrazing 13 Loss of Habitat through Land Taken for Development Overuse of and Damage to Coastal and Marine Ecosystems I4 Invasive Species 15 Anthropogenic Disturbance to Wildlife I7 Indirect Causes of Biodiversity Loss 18 Population Growth 18 New Technology and Diversification of 18 the Economy Actions to Achieve the Three 19 Objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity General Approaches 19 Ecosystem Approach 20 Precautionary Approach 20 Adaptive and Cyclical Planning Approach 20 Information Management Approach 21 Participatory Approach 22 General Protective Measures 22 Priorities for Action 22 Targets 23 Review of and 23 Cross-sectoral Areas Integration of Biodiversity 24 Conservation and Sustainable Use into and Cross-Sectoral Areas Sustainable Use 24 Equitable Benefit Sharing 25 Public Outreach and Awareness 26 On-the-ground Implementation 26 Co-ordination and Follow-up 26 Process Long-term Capacity 27 Financial Capacity 27 Selected Bibliography 28 Acknowledgements 28 Annex A: Some of the Biodiversity-related I Projects Carried out or Started since 1992 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Sultanate of Oman has undergone a period of rapid change since the accession of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in 1970. Rapid development to meet the needs and aspirations of a rapidly increasing population has made severe demands on habitat. Much field study has been carried out in many taxonomic areas and knowledge is good. Policies made early in this process have halted severe loss of biodiversity, but threats still remain. Over-exploitation of the sea and rangelands are serious threats, but measures are being taken to address them. The institutional structure and capacity to meet these threats is under continual review and has been strengthened since the Sultanate became a signatory to the CBD in 1992. Since then a National Conservation Strategy has been drawn up and ratified. Environmental scrutiny of development projects has been improved. Protected areas have been designated and management planning and implementation is progressing. Lack of available financial resources has constrained progress on all fronts, but much progress is being made. Monitoring and field management have been expanded and field studies and research continue. Specialist taxonomic working groups have been formed and others are planned. A National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan has been drafted and undergone technical scrutiny. Further integration of the environment into national development programme and the establishment of a Biodiversity Conservation Information System are the two principal outputs of a GEF Enabling Project commencing in early 1998. Diversification of the economy away from dependence on oil revenues has further increased pressure on habitat as more land is needed for new types of development activity. 4 PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING AND REPORTING PROCESSES Prior to 1992 The Sultanate of Oman has undergone a period of rapid change since the accession of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said in 1970. There was little infrastructure of government or expertise within the country and the modest oil revenue was used to carry out basic development: roads, schools and medical facilities for the people. Very early on His Majesty the Sultan realised the importance of conserving Oman’s natural heritage and, in 1974, established the Office of the Adviser for Conservation of the Environment in the then Ministry of Diwan Affairs. This enabled much early action to be taken to bring awareness of environmental matters to the new and expanding ministries. Legislation was passed by various ministries, such as a law to ban the hunting of certain wildlife species. In 1982 the Oman Natural History Museum was established in the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture (MNHC), bringing yet another ministry into the broadening field of consultation. In 1982 Royal Decree No the Law on Conservation of the Environment and the Prevention of Pollution was issued, addressing a wide range of environmental protection measures. They include the requirement that all development projects should undergo environmental scrutiny prior to the issue of a mandatory environmental permit. Permits may be refused, or have specific conditions attached to them requiring mitigation measures to be incorporated, and/or restoration after the project ends, to be carried out. A full EIA study is required to be carried out for larger projects or those in environmentally sensitive areas. The implementation of this Decree (and its later amendments) has been strengthened considerably since 1992, providing better protection of ecosystems and wildlife habitat, as well as preventing water, soil and air pollution. The Ministry of Environment was created in 1984. Responsibility for water resources was then added in 1985, until a separate ministry was established for that purpose. In 1991, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities was amalgamated to form the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Environment (MRME) a single large ministry with a presence throughout all regions of the Sultanate of Oman. In 1992 a national conservation strategy for sustainable development was drafted, with extensive consultation among the ministries and organisations with responsibility for biodiversity conservation, or whose development projects could present a threat to the habitat of flora and fauna. The exercise was concluded with a major seminar to extend this consultation. The document was finally ratified by the Cabinet as a guideline document in 1996. Since 1992 Government Agencies. The NBSAP was developed at technical level with the participation of members of the specialist groups recently established by MRME. They are drawn from the Diwan of Royal Court, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Resources (MAFR), MNHC and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). The groups are chaired by staff of the Directorate-General of Nature Reserves and meet at intervals, bringing together the best expertise available within Oman. In addition specialists in other relevant fields, for which specialist groups have not yet been formed, were involved in the development of the NBSAP. 5 The NBSAP is at the third draft stage, the implementation projects still being gathered from other ministries. Thus the degree of detail currently available varies according to the degree of participation by other ministries. The process of formulating the NBSAP has promoted awareness and understanding of the fields of responsibility, establishing much growing and beneficial dialogue between the various ministries and agencies involved in biodiversity conservation. Once the third edition has been it will then be translated into Arabic and circulated at policy-maker level for ratification by the ministries concerned. The NBSAP builds on the work already done in drawing up the National Conservation Strategy. Within the document is provision for the establishment of further interministerial specialist groups as capacity is built to make this possible. Care has been taken at this stage to avoid overambitious or rigid time scales for project implementation or commitments to funding, as these must depend on further integration of environmental matters within the development and financial planning process. None-the-less it is an important vehicle for organising conservation priorities and for an overview of the institutional requirements to meet the tasks. The Biodiversity Enabling Project, due to start in early 1998, will further develop the NBSAP, within its present concise and translatable format. and Volunteer Participation. The establishment of in Oman is still at an early stage. None-the-less many private individuals give their time to carrying out data and specimen collection under the guidance of the relevant ministry responsible for their field of interest. Ornithological work has hitherto been almost entirely carried out in this way. Those with specific skills are able to be co-opted to the specialist groups. Much good work is also done by such volunteers in the marine mammal field and by diving club members in the coral reef clean-up campaign. Private citizens in the Interior of Oman give much valuable support to studies of wildlife, traditional conservation systems and the monitoring of illegal hunting or damage to trees. The private sector of commerce and industry gives generously to environmental awareness projects as well as contributing to the data collection process through environmental impact assessment studies. Thus the current lack of official environmental does not inhibit activity by volunteers. STATUS AND TRENDS A SUMMARY Monitoring With certain notable exceptions monitoring systems on a wide scale are at an early stage of development. The MRME ranger units are still in the early stages of recruitment, expansion and training. None-the-less most of these units are now issued with wildlife observation cards on which sightings and incidents are recorded. The database to accommodate and process this data will be