Oman’s EA issues clarification about decision to ban logging and confiscation of illegal firewood

Muscat: The Environment Authority issued an explanation of what was circulated on social media about the decision to ban logging and the confiscation of illegal quantities of firewood in some sales outlets.

The authority said that the decision to ban logging has been in effect for years and has been in effect to reduce the wrong practices of some citizens and some expatriate workers, represented in excessive logging and the use of automatic chainsaws to cut wet trees and inject chemicals into them to make them dry, which led to the depletion of tree cover, especially Samar trees.

The authority added: tightening control over valleys and tree ranges in open spaces is not possible due to the wide geographical areas, and therefore taking the necessary measures with illegal sales outlets is one of the solutions that limit this negative phenomenon.

It also mentioned that it grants temporary logging permits before the festive seasons to all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman according to clear requirements and in specific locations and to committed groups of loggers, to meet the community’s need for dry firewood to practice Omani customs on the blessed Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

The Authority confirmed that this measure was not taken except after monitoring many negative practices, in order to preserve the safety of the Omani environment and the sustainability of its natural resources, and that preserving the environment is the responsibility of all individuals and institutions.

It is worth noting that the regulation of logging and charcoal operations issued in 2017 referred to two types of logging permits, which are a personal logging permit and a logging craft permit.

The logging regulation in Article 12 clarified the penalties for logging without a permit, which are:

A- Whoever violates Article (12) of these regulations shall be punished with an administrative fine of not less than (200) two hundred Rial Omani and not exceeding (1000) one thousand Rial Omani, and the fine shall be doubled when the violation is repeated.

b- Whoever violates Article (3) of these regulations shall be punished with an administrative fine of no less than (50) fifty Omani riyals and no more than (500) five hundred Omani riyals, and the fine shall be doubled when the violation is repeated.

C- Anyone who violates the conditions of the permit granted to him shall be punished with an administrative fine of no less than (30) thirty Omani riyals and not more than (300) three hundred Omani riyals, and doubled when the fine is repeated.