Forests for People

[

] 286

eventual decline. Furthermore, the substantial increase

in income and rapid demographic inflation has led to

fast, unmanaged urban expansion into forested areas,

causing significant shrinking of the natural vegetal

cover, especially in the Sarawat Mountains.

Forest and wood lands in KSA are currently subject

to rigorous stress conditions, causing degradation and

shrinking. Such stress is the result of anthropogenic

factors, including fuel wood cutting, overgrazing, urban

expansion, wildfires and misuse of parks and picnic areas,

in addition to harsh environmental conditions (low rain-

fall averaging 106 mm per year, hot temperatures, high

evaporation rate, severe droughts and poor soils).

For more than three decades now, the juniper forests

of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been exhibiting

symptoms of widespread decline, including unhealthy

trees, poor production of berries and cones, top dieback,

mortality of scattered individual trees and entire stand

mortality. The dieback and decline of juniper have been

attributed to a range of factors, including localized climate

changes, water stress resulting from poor water harvesting

due to damaged and abandoned terraces, secondary insect

pests and pathogens, heavy pressure exerted by tourists in

national parks, soil compaction, road network expansion,

urban development and lack of management plans.

Forestry policy and intervention

To stop forest degradation and set the conditions for

sustainability, the Government of KSA took several steps,

including adopting the Saudi Forest and Range Act and

by-laws (1978) and updating them in 2005 to secure

forest tenure, assure protection and encourage sustain-

able development. A National Forest Strategy and Action

ing 11 per cent of the total population of 27 million.

A recent study

conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and King Saud

University

showed that among a surveyed sample of the population

living within the three provinces, a proportion of 92 per cent use

the forest for recreation purposes, 76 per cent practise agricultural

activities, 32 per cent use it for livestock grazing, 16 per cent harvest

forest firewood and 14 per cent own beehives or grazing land in the

forest. In addition, 2 per cent collect forest medicinal and aromatic

plants and products.

Reliance of the local populations on the forest in these areas was

almost total in past centuries as it provided them with all their needs,

including air, food, fibre, shelter, water and medicine. However,

during the last half century, important changes have occurred as

a result of the mutation of the Saudi economy generated by the oil

boom, reducing direct reliance on the forest as a source of livelihood

and increasing its use for recreation. This has led to the creation

of 16 wildlife reserves and 14 national parks in various parts of

the country, among which, two reserves (Raida and Shada Alaala)

and three national parks (Assir and Al-Baha, Taif) are located in

the mountain forests. These parks attract more than five million

summer visitors annually, generating important economic activity

and creating jobs, but also causing a great deal of soil compaction,

tree injury and pollution.

Agriculture has been abandoned to a great extent in the mountain

forests in favour of Government jobs and other more lucrative activi-

ties.

Terraces, which are scattered all over the mountain slopes,

supported the main agricultural activities in the past. Currently

most of them are abandoned or no longer maintained, leading to

soil erosion, soil crusting and subsequent drastic soil disturbances.

Throughout the juniper ecosystem an important proportion of rain-

fall now runs off instead of infiltrating or percolating into the soil,

causing moisture stress for the trees and leading to low vigour and

Juniper ecosystem in Assir

Conocarpus and Tamarix green belts to stop sand advance

Image: Ministry of Agriculture, KSA