More protection needed for wild trees against unregulated logging

Due to demand among campers and hikers for wood logs, traders and salespersons have been keen to provide the local market with large amounts, mostly from sidr trees or thorny acacia trees, claiming that these were supplied by local farms, in addition to other varieties of logs imported from Europe, Africa and other places.However, some Qataris have expressed their concerns that this could lead to unregulated wood logging of the wild trees across the country, with some saying that they have noticed its consequences on various wild lawns across the country.Local Arabic daily Arrayah reported that they have called on the concerned entities at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to take the necessary precautions and measures to require that these traders and salespersons declare the source of their logs to make sure that they are not cut from local wild trees.They said that the ministry should exercise tighter control on the targeted wild lawns, with more environmental patrols to reduce the and lielihood and prevalence of unregulated logging of trees.It has also been noticed that some traders display their wood logs using social media, claiming that they have Omani acacia wood logs even though the authorities in Oman have banned the export of such type of wood logs.This raises doubts about the source of these logs.There are street vendors near the Sealine Area and at certain spots of the highways leading to the outskirts of the country claiming to provide acacia logs imported from Oman and African countries; when asked about this, the traders would be evasive and respond that they are only salespersons.They sell 10kgs of logs for QR50, and a small vehicle cargo for QR2,000.However, some other sellers say that their goods come from local farms and other types are imported from Europe and Africa.Meanwhile, those who frequent some wild lawns, in particular those on the road to Rawdat Rashid, have notice fresh cuts in the trees there.This is a clear indication of the ongoing unregulated cutting of these trees.