A joint training course between ACSAD and the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture on the importance of forests
Today at ACSAD headquarters, ” Under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform of the Syrian Arab Republic, the Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones and Drylands “ACSAD” organization, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, held a training course on the importance of the forest and the of natural resources protection, and the importance of spreading the concept of biodiversity to the local community.
His Excellency Dr. Nasr Edin Obaid, the Director-General of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Zones and Drylands “ACSAD” stressed in his speech that this training course on “the importance of the forest, the protection of natural resources and the importance of spreading the concept of biodiversity to the local community” comes within the framework of the Minister’s interests in forest wealth. In Syria, especially after the damage resulted from the recent fires, and at the heart of the priorities and action plans of the Pasture and Forest Resources Program in ACSAD, and as a result of the framework agreement between the Ministry and ACSAD in the field of qualifying technical cadres and raising knowledge capabilities in various fields.
He explained that ACSAD is working with the Ministry to implement research activities and projects that serve the forest wealth in Syria. Including: preparing a scientific database on forest species, their scientific classification, and their areas of spread, using remote sensing technologies, forming a joint scientific team with the Ministry of Agriculture to follow up on issues related to the rehabilitation of forest areas affected by fires, studying endangered forest species, establishing a nursery field for medicinal and aromatic plants, implementing six water dams with a storage capacity of 200 thousand cubic meters in mountainous areas, and providing 100 million Syrian pounds as material assistance from ACSAD, the value of the equipment to extinguish fires.
Dr. Obaid indicated that the center rehabilitated millions of hectares of degraded natural pastures in Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Yemen, Egypt, Libya, and the Sultanate of Oman and studied the causes of the deterioration of Juniperus forests (Al-Ar ar) in Libya and Saudi Arabia.
The training course aims to rehabilitate and train twenty-three trainees from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, which lasts three days, to publicize forests and their environmental and economic benefits, the ways to protect natural resources, and to publicize the multiple meanings of biodiversity and the importance and mechanism of its dissemination in the local community, in addition to implementing a field day in the Maysaloun forest site.
A group of ACSAD researchers and distinguished experts shed light extensively during their training to transfer their experiences and expertise to the trainees to achieve the desired goal theoretically, practically, and in the field.
