The Wadi Jawrah Mimusops Garden

A New Botanic Garden in Saudi Arabia

Authors

  • Tarik Al-Abbasi National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development
  • Matthew Hall
  • Tony Miller
  • David Rae
  • Abdullah Al-Wetaid
  • Rabah Al-Harbi
  • Khalaf Al-Shammari
  • Othman Llewellyn
  • Leigh Morris

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24823/Sibbaldia.2009.167

Abstract

The Wadi Jawrah Mimusops Garden is a new botanic garden which is under construction on a 25ha site in Jizan province, southern Saudi Arabia. The garden is being established around a stand of 14 Mimusops laurifolia (Forssk) Friis trees, the second largest stand of this species in the Arabian Peninsula. The major objectives of this garden are to conserve these trees, recreate the rare valley forest habitat of which they are characteristic, establish a nursery for the propagation and ecological restoration of rare species, and to provide a valuable resource for conservation education in the region. This paper covers these aims, the conservation importance of M. laurifolia and valley forest and some challenges and recommendations for the new garden.

Author Biography

  • Tarik Al-Abbasi, National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development
    Director of Terrestrial Research

References

AL-ABBASI, T.M., AL-FARHAN, A., AL-KHULAIDI, A.W., HALL, M., LLEWELLYN, O., MILLER, A.G. & PATZELT, A. (2010). Important Plant Areas in the Arabian Region. Edinb J. Bot. In Press

AL-FARHAN, A., ALDIJAIN, I.M.N, THOMAS, J., MILLER, A.G., KNEES, S.G., LLEWELLYN, O. & AKRAM, A. (2008). Botanic Gardens in the Arabian Peninsula. Sibbaldia 6: 18–203.

AL-TURKI, R.A. (2004). A prelude to the study of the flora of Jabal Fayfa in Saudi Arabia. Kuwait J. Sc. Eng. 31: 77–145.

BROADHURST, L.M., LOWE, A., COATES, D.J., CUNNINGHAM, S.A., MCDONALD, M., VESK, P., & YATES, C. (2008). Seed supply for broadscale restoration: maximizing evolutionary potential. Evolutionary Applications 1: 587–597.

DAWSON, T.P. (2007). Potential impacts of climate change in the Arabian Peninsula, Proceedings, International Conference on Desertification, 12–16 May 2007, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait.

FRIIS, I. (1992). Forests and Forest Trees of Northeast Tropical Africa. Their Natural Habitats and Distribution Patterns in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. HMSO– Middlesex, UK.

HALL, M., AL-KHULAIDI, A.W., MILLER, A.G., SCHOLTE , P. & AL-QADA SI, A.H. (2008). Arabia’s Last Forests Under Threat: Plant Biodiversity and Conservation in the Valley Forest of Jabal Bura’a (Yemen). Edinb. J. Bot. 65 (1): 113–135.

HALL, M., SCHOLTE, P., AL-KHULAIDI, A.W., MILLER, A.G., AL-QADASI, A.H., AL-FARHAN, A & AL-ABBASI, T.M (2009). Arabia’s Last Forests Under Threat II: Remaining Fragments of Unique Valley Forest in South West Arabia. Edinb. J. Bot. 62: 263–281.

HALL, M., NEALE, S., AL-ABBASI, T.M. & MILLER, A.G., (2010). Arabia’s Tallest Trees: Ecology, Distribution and Status of the Regionally Endangered Tree Species Mimusops laurifolia. Forthcoming.

HALL, M, & MILLER, A.G. (2009). Documenting Arabian Plants in a Changing Climate. In: Hodkinson, T.R., Jones, M.B., Waldren, S., Parnell, J.A.N (Eds.) Climate Change, Ecology and Systematics. Cambridge University Press. In press. HEPPER, F. N. & WOOD, J. R. I. (1979). Were there forests in the Yemen? Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 9: 65–71.

IUCN (2001). IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria version 3.1. Gland, Switzerland, IUCN.

LLEWELLYN, O. A. (2003) The Basis for a Discipline of Islamic Environmental Law. In: R.C. Foltz et al. (Eds). Islam and Ecology Harvard University Press: 185–247.

MILLER, A. G. & MORRIS, M. (1988). Plants of Dhofar, the southern region of Oman: traditional, economic and medicinal uses. Office of the Advisor for Conservation of the Environment, Diwan of Royal Court, Sultanate of Oman.

NICHOLSON, P.T. & SHAW, I. (Eds.) (2000). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge University Press.

PATZELT, A., MORRIS, L., AL-HARTHI, L., AL-RASHIDI, I. & SPALTON, A. (2008). The Oman Botanic Garden (1): The Vision, early plant collections and propagation. Sibbaldia 6: 41–77.

WHITE, F. (1983). The Vegetation of Africa: A descriptive memoir to accompany the UNESCO vegetation map of Africa. Paris: UNESCO.

WOOD, J.R.I. (1997). A Handbook of the Yemen Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Downloads

Published

2009-10-31

Issue

Section

Articles

Categories

How to Cite

The Wadi Jawrah Mimusops Garden: A New Botanic Garden in Saudi Arabia. (2009). Sibbaldia: The International Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture, 7, 181-198. https://doi.org/10.24823/Sibbaldia.2009.167