| Sultanate of Oman | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Middle East, along Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Gulf of oma, between Yemen and united Arab Emerites | ||||||||||||||||||
| National websites | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/mu.html#geo
http://library.advanced.org/3526/facts/oman.html http://www.nwnet.co.uk/qalhat/yaqub/environment.htm http://www.arab.net/oman/oman_contents.html http://www.omanet.com/moi_data.htm http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/8883/environ.html |
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| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | Diplomatic
representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Abdallah bin Muhammad bin Aqil al-DHAHAB chancery: 2535 Belmont Road, NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-1980 through 1982, 1988 FAX: [1] (202) 745-4933 Diplomatic representation from the US: |
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| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | Ministry
of Regional Municipalities and Environment Box No. 323 PC 113 Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Tel: (968) 69 64 41/4 Fax: (968) 69 64 60 Council for Conservation of the Environment and Prevention of Pollution Council for the Conservation of the Environment and Water Resources |
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| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | The Historical Association of Oman (PO. Box 3941, Ruwi 112,
Oman) Horticultural Society, P O Box 1591, CPO 111, Oman. Tel 968- 797252. Oman Bird Records Committee, P O Box 246, Muscat 113, Oman. The Oman Natural History Museum (ONHM) (P O Box 668, Muscat 113, Oman; Tel 968-605400) |
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| Major Natural Resources | Oman's natural resources include: petroleum, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, coral reefs, chromium, gypsum, and natural gas. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | Some of Oman's major environmental concerns are rising soil salinity, beach pollution from oil spills, and very limited natural fresh water resources. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Land area | 300,000 square kilometers | http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+om0027) | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 0 | http://data.wri.org:1996/cgi-bin/charlotte | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | 0 | http://iucn.org/themes/ramsar/key_cp_e.htm | |||||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 12 nm | http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/mu.html#geo | |||||||||||||||||
| Population: 1.5 million, growing at a rate of 3.5 percent per annum |
Density: | 8/sq.km or 6.5/sq km |
|
http://library.advanced.org/3526/facts/oman.html http://data.wri.org:1996/cgi-bin/charlotte http://www.unep.ch/islands/CDP.htm http://www.omanet.com/moi_data.htm http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+om0029) |
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| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels: | N/A | Fraction of land area protected (%): | N/A | List of Major Protected Areas | |||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | 2092 km of coastline are protected for the coral reefs:
the Musandam Peninsula, which separates the Arabian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman; rocky
shores and islands near Muscat; the sheltered western shores of Masirah Island and Barr Al Hickman; and sheltered bay of Dhofar and the Al-Halaniyat Islands. Ras al-Had are a protected site for turtle breeding.
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Information Center for the Environment http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr1998/scr-02.html http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/8883/omanenviron.html |
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| Endemic Species |
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N/A | |||||||||||||||||
| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
Total Animals: 22 |
World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendices |
oryx |
CITES-listed Species Database | |||||||||||||||||
| Legislation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | Oman has wildlife reserves and breeding programs to protect endangered species. (See below.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | A management plan is being implemented for the Daymaniat Islands, a marine protected area. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to CITES | not a signee | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | not a signee (http://iucn.org/themes/ramsar/about_arab_states.htm) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | 8.2.95 (http://www.biodiv.org/conv/pdf/ratification-date.pdf) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | not a signee (www.fws.gov/laws/digest/reslaws/migtrea.html) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | Yes (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/iwcoffice/iwc.htm#Members) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | party to: Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes,
Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ship Pollution, Basel Convention on the trans-boundary
Movement of Hazardour Wastes & Disposal (1992), Action Plan for the Protection of the
Mediteranean Sea Against Pollution (MAP) (1975), Kuwait Action Plan (1978), Red Sea and
Gulf of Aden Action Plan (1982), Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) |
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| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | 4.77 million tons of fish stocks Fishing has damaged corals. Oman has a substantial fishing economy, but the waters have been polluted and the stocks overfished. |
http://www.omanet.com/moi_data.htm http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr1998/scr-02.html http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/8883/fish.html http://www.wtech.co.uk/World/Middle_East/Oman/oman.html |
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| Forestry / deforestation | There are no forest regions in Oman, but the country imports
wood products, like sawnwood. Oman established a Forestry and Range Management
Department to examine areas that had forest potential. Three areas were
identified: the broad- leaved woodlands of Southern Dhofar, Jabal Akhdar in Northern
Oman (for re-planting); and Sharquia (for management). |
http://www.fao.org/infosylva/VR/is_country.jsp?country_code=221&lang=en
http://www.nri.org/Projects/prof71.htm |
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| Ecotourism | There are whale and bird-watching attractions in Oman. | http://www.arabianwildlife.com/vol2.2/oma.htm | |||||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | The Sultanate of oman gave the Species Survival Commission
(SSC) of IUCN-The World Conservation Union $millions to stop illegal wildlife trade.
However, the people in Oman purchase rhino horns to make dagger handles, and this is contrary to CITES' wishes. |
http://conbio.rice.edu/scb/newsletter/feb99/rabb.shtml http://www.traffic.org/news/press-releases/pr_rhino_shortfall.html |
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| Hunting | I could not find much information on hunting in Oman. The country has a lot of bird and whale-watching expeditions, but I highly doubt hunting is included in those tourist packages. All the hunting sites I found on the Middle East/ Western Asia failed to include Oman as a main location for hunting (as a sport). | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | Oman has been troubled by polution for the Gulf War, as well as from industrial waste. | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | "The Government has started several regional activities to conserve and protect water resources from pollution and to increase public awareness of such pressing environmental issues as the scarcity of water resources and the importance of protecting biodiversity." | http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/geo1/ch/ch3_28.htm#env | |||||||||||||||||
| Development activities | Desalination of water supplies | http://www.omania.net/info.htm | |||||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | N/A | N/A | |||||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | Council for Protection of Environment and Pollution Control (1979) and the Act for Environment Protection and Pollution Control in Oman (1979, amended 1985); | http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/geo1/ch/ch3_28.htm#env | |||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | Programs for coastline conservation, anti-pollution laws, and
species protection laws National Environment Action Plan (1996) Sanctuaries have been set aside for the rare Arabian oryx, giant sea turtles (which
come to Oman to breed), the Arabian tahr (a wild goat which nearly became extinct but is
now flourishing), Arabian wolf and leopard, striped hyena and the sooty falcon. |
http://www.inforamp.net/~emous/oman/environ.htm http://grid2.cr.usgs.gov/geo1/ch/ch3_28.htm#env http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/mea/oma.htm#env |
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| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | Oman Mammal Breeding Centre Box 1064 Central Post Office Seeb Intr. Airport OMAN Telephone: Fax: |
http://www.cbsg.org/regasw.htm | |||||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by M-L. S. Gong as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA