Yemen Geographical Situation
Yemen~the Happy Arabia (Arabia Felix)~as mentionedin the ancienttime~hasbeen
one of the oldest centresof civilization and the constructionof the world first dam
proves this. The present Republic of Yemen comprisesthe former Yemen Arab
Republic and the PeoplesDemocratic Republic of Yemen and was proclaimed in
May 1990. Geographically,Yemen occupiesthe south-westcomer of the Arabian
Peninsulabetween12° and 20° latitudesand 41° and 54° longitudes. It is bounded
on the north by Saudi Arabia, the Gulf of Aden'on the south, and Oman on the east
and the Red Seaon the west. The country areais 555,000km2 and it has more than
100 sizableislands scatteredin the Indian Ocean,the Red Seaand the Arabian Sea.
The most notable islands are Soqattrain the Indian Ocean, Hunaish, Perim and
Kamaran in the Red Sea.
Population of Yemen
The majority of the Yemeni are Arab of Semitic origin other communities like
Africans, South Asians and Europeansdo exist, albeit in relatively small numbers.
Oneof the unique featuresof the populationof Yemen is the significant role of tribes
and sheikhsin the highlandSand remoteareas.The governmentseemsto acceptsuch
norms and behavioursas they assistin creatinga politically stability in such areas.
The Yemeni population has a relatively very high growth rate, 3.7 per cent, which
pose a lot of challengeto the governmentdevelopmentplans. The last published
~ D;1illions;51 per cent of them are
censusshowedthat the Yemen population is
malesand 49 per cent females.It also showedthat 24 per cent of the populationlive
in the urbanareaand half of the populationare under 15 yearsof agewhile 3.5% are
in the agerangeof 65 and over.
The Climate of Yemen
The climate of Yemen generallyrangesfrom semi-hum~dto semi-ariduntil reachto
regions that have arid tropical climate. Nevertheless,the climate of Yemen can be
classifiedinto eight i4entifiable regions.Theseregions are: the CoastalPlains, Low
WesternHighlands, Medium WesternHighlands, High EasternHighlands,Medium
EasternHighlands, Highlands Plains, Easternand North EasternHighlands,Eastern
Desert.
Typically, the highlandsof Yemenhavea m~d temperateclimate andmoderatelydry
in the winter, sometimesthe temperaturedrops below freezing point, and in the
summer the climate changesto warm and rainy.. The central slopes and the far
northernand easternparts (the Empty Quarter)are generallyhot, dry and have harsh
desertclimate. The coastalplain hasa hot climate throughoutthe year and with high
humidity. The,following table showsthe main climatic characteristicsof the regions.
With regardsto the rainfall, most of the Yemen areasenjoy two seasonsof rainfall,
during the months of March/April and July/August. However, the arid tropical
climate that prevails in the coastal regions results in erratic precipitation of low
amount.The country meanannualrainfall is usually less200 mm, but the highlands
,
receivegreatamountof rainfall usuallybetween400-800mm. The Coastalplains and
the EasternDesertPlains get the lowest rainfall rate which is 50-300mm and 50-100
mm respectively.
to the elevations and wind, the country annual mean temperaturesis
considerably low. The monsoon negatively affects the temperature during the
.
summertime. The absolutemaximum is 40° and minimum is 20° but the difference
is considerablyhigh betweenthe night andday temperatures.
Soil
Very inadequateinformation is availableabout the Yemen's soil classificationand
distribution. The study carried out by King et a1 can be consideredas the most
important one although it only covered the western and the northern part of the
country. The most prominent properties of the soil of Yemen are that they are
generallyfine textured (sandyloam, loam, silty clay and clay loam), alkaline (pH 78.5) and have well developedstructuresbut weak and very structure can also be
noticed. In light of the USDA soil taxonomy the soil of Yemen can classified as
following Tableno. 2:
Table no. 2. Classification of the Soils of Yemen
Socio-economicActivities
The arable land constitute 5% of the total area and up to 54% of the population works
in farming related activities and consider agriculture as the main livelihoOd mean
(Table no. 3). About 45% of the arable lands are rain fed, 37% depends on wells and
the rest are irrigated by spring and flood water. Agricultural constitutes about 18% of
GDP and the agricUltural sector grows at a rate of 3.73%. The other activity that
providesjobs for considerablesector of the rural people is the herding. The total
numbers of livestock and their grazing pressureare rough estimates.However, the
main livestock resourcesinclude cows, sheep,goatsand camels(Table no. 4). Therural ~ople depend on livestock as a source of milk, meat and the majority of
fanners, 75%, use oxen in the traditional land preparations. The diary production for
commercial purpose is very limited.
Table no. 3. Land uses Classifications
Table no. 4. Livestock Resources(in 000 heads)
Livestock
Sheep
Goat
Cattle
I Camels
Next to ~culture
2000
4804
5252
1339
190
~5029
1
4453
1401
, 198
2002
6483
7245
1342
264
2003
6589
7311
1358
277
and herding comes the fishing occupation that provides
employmentand source of income for the majority of the population in the rural
coastalareas.Yemen has a very long coastalstrip of 2000 km along the Red Sea,
Arabian Seaand the Gulf of Aden besidemany islands.The fishing resourcein the
Gulf of Aden is very rich and fertile and hashigh potential. The latest ~eportsshow
that Yemen has exported 60,000 tones of fisheries and aquaticsorganismsand has
met the domestic demand for fish meet. In addition, there are three factories for
canningof fish and this providesgoodjob opportunitiesfor the peoplein the coastal
areas.
The Forest Resourcesand Protected area of Yemen
Forests, in general, play, a vital role in any rational land use. The potential of
contribution of forests to the GDP, recreationassetsand the environmentcannotbe
overlooked.However, in a country like Yemen forestscontribution to the GNP does
not exceed0.25-0.5per cen4eventhough,they are expectedto play different roles in
varied climatic and topographic regions. The attention given to this important
economicsector is so perfunctoryand this could be explained by the fact that that
there is no model of forest contribution to the GNP. The economicpotential of the
.
forest could be reflected through the protection value that forests provide to
agriculture, meet basic rural people needs beside providing humble scale
employm~nt.
Yet, in Yemen there is no plannedor planted forest and the presentforest resources
are only natural forests that are savedfrom ex:traditiondue to their location in the
remote inaccessible areas. The Yemen natural forests are not only exhaustible
resourcebut they are low producerand contributor to the country economy.This is
"._'_.~~
clearfrom thefact that forestsand'woodlands
only COristitutt~~~~~.~~~~:
the total land of the country.With the significantpopulationgrowththe country
plannersneedto decideon the type and the extent of land to be usedas forests,the
speciesto be grown~managementsystemand ahead of all to protect the existing
forestS.The protection of presentforestsis crucial issuebecauseit protectSthe soil
against erosion factors (water and wind), improve humidity, slightly lowering the
temperatures,increase soil fertility with the fallen leaves, act as safe habitat for
wildlife andprovide excellentsanc~es and nationalparks.
Until 1990the country was not having intention, or at leastthe plan, in declaringany
protectedarea/land.This can be referredto very complex social, economicand legal
~~.s.
But, with the assistancefrom many internationaldonorsand organizationsit
was possibleto raise the awarenessof many stakeholdersand decisionmakersabout
thiScvital iSScue.
The outcome of this was the declaration of two areasas protected
area,Jabal Bma'a and Uttoma'a. As experiencedin many "hit and miss" decisions,
the announcementsof these areasas protectedwere not all clear but createdmany
critics and urged for revision. There is great chancethat the r~n
may result in
retar?J!lg"Ofthe decision that concerns with Uttoma'a or least add some specifications
and limitations to the announcement.
In respect of the forest resources, it is hard to state that Yemen has a real production
forest but comparativelyto the climatic and geographiczone that Yemen falls in, it
would be a~ss~e
to consider the woodlandsof Yemen as forest. The reported
forests resources of Yemen according to their importance and size are Jabal Bura'a,
Hawf, JaballrafI, Soqattra, Mangroves, Uttoma'a and Jabal Allawz.
Jabal Bora'a Forest
JabalBura'a Forest is one of the important forest/protectedarea in Yemen that has
distinguished
biodiversity.
It
is
situated
in
the
Tihama
western
escarpment
'"--
50
kIn
to
the north eastof Hodiedahcity. It is one of the areasthat low populationdensity.The
last census showed that there is 45 villages inhabited by 1499 families (total
populationis about8000person),
The Forestis locatedbetween41054 and 41050 longitudesand between43 028 and
430 24 altitudes. The area of this forest estimatedas 4,100 ha and its elevationof
Bura'a Forestrangesbetween300 - 1600 metersabovethe sealevel. However,the
densevegetationcover occursin the areathat haselevation of 300-800ffi. The slope
is very acuteand reaches70% especiallyin the north and eastnorth aspectand in the
westernsideof the watershed.
Administratively, this forest/protectedareacomesunder the Governor.of Hodiedah.
It is consideredas one of the richestforest/protectedareaas it includes81 families of
the trees and s~s.
Due to the changesin the climatic factors and uncontrolled
human activities it has been noticed that the densevegetation cover is gradually
disappearingand this urged the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water
and Environment to work hard to announcethe forest as a protected area. It is
planned that such step will result in a changein the society behavioursand the
prevailing utilization ID;Qde.
The distinguished location and f~irly high elevation makes Jabal Bura'a has the
benefit of a diverse climate The lower part of the forest (low elevation) has
subtropical climate but the higher elevation areaspossessmild temperateclimate.
The rainfall rangesbetween 40
-
600 mm and the rain occurs during two rainy
seasons.The long dry season form the major obstacle of tree growing
development.The mean annual temperatureis 29°C and the range of temperature
between20-30oC.The soil is fairly shallow one and depthdoesnot exceed30 cm the
pH is 8 which meansthat the soil is of alkaline nature.
According to the tree densitY,the forest can be divided into two major sections.
first has low tree density but has a large area;i.e., up to 2000 ha. The secondsection
lays in the inner part of the mountain and has a 'higher tree density, though of its
relatively small areathat doesnot exceed500 ha. Despite of its small sized areabut
this section represents an import natural resource for many socio economic
traditional activities that havebeenin practicefor long times.
This forest is rich in the vegetationcomposition.Thereare 22 reportedplant species,
12
genera
.::--
and
families. The main trees and shrub speciesthat are reported in
Bura'a are: Acacia ehrenbergiana,A. meleifera, Ficus spp., Ziziphus mucionata,Z.
spine Christi, Tamrindus.Indica, Dobera glabra, Commiphora abyssinica and C
kataf. The forest vegetationcover canbe classifiedinto five layers:
i) The forest of the valley"where the dominant speciesare F. salisifolia, F. vasta,
Terichelia emetica and TamarindusIndica. This layer includes about 80% of the
foresttotal tree volume andthus consideredasthe mosfimportant part and species,
ii) The fQ.rest of the southern
about
16 ha. It has abandotlment
--
foothill.
This
terraces
form
very
and many
low
.
~ople
density
and very
use to live
it this
small
area
area.
ill) The Acacia forest layer. This is the biggest layer in term of area and has a
significant.natural regenerationthat eriablesit to resist the over cuttin~ it ~po~d it.
The layer includesbesideAcacia spp.Phoenixspp.and Berchemiadiscolor.
iv) Deteri~ted Acacia forest layer. Is small size areadoe not exceeding 1% of the
Bura'a area.The speciescompositionis similar to the Acacia forest layer.
v) Phoenix recinata forest layer. This is the poorest layer of the Bura'a and
constitutes32% of the total area.However, this layer enjoys an acceptablenatural
regeneration.
HawfForest
Hawf is the one of the largestarea'thatis coveredwith relatively densedry d~~~us
forest trees. Such thick and large forest is not present else where in the Arab
PeninsUla.This forest is the least exploredand investigatedforest in Yemenand its
inaccessiblelocation might be the major justification for such negligence.However,
availablereportsshowedthat the forest includesover 250 ~!~~us
speciessomeof
them have medicinal uses as Commiphora gileadensis (antiseptic) Commiphora
habessinica(asthma)while few of these speciesare rare and some are facing the
threat of disappearance
Hawfis locatedin the south eastcomer of Almahra'a Governoratebetween52° 42
and 53° 06' longitudesand 16° 32' and 16° 41' latitudes. The Forest has thick tree
cover, high plant and animal diversity and it covers 30000 ha from the region of Ras
Fertik until the Yemeni-Omanborder.It occupiesnarrow strips from the coastof the
t.Arabian Seaand extendsto the inner/norththrough the mountainsthat have altitude
of 1400 m. These mountains are consideredas a natural extension of the Green
Mountain andDhofar region of Oman.
The
topo~phy
of
Hawf
is
characterized
by
the
mountains,which is rich in limestoneand e~e
sea
and
the
series
of
rocky
concave
--
many deep wadis that form a
separationbetweenthe mountains.There are many severalsmall streamspresentin
the forest but the major wadi in the area is called Wadi Marara as it is the most
important water sourcefor the district. The soil of the forest is calcareous,fertile,
varies in depth and physical and chemical characteristics and the s~~~nt
Hawf areareceivesrain duringthe ~n
time, i.e., mid June- mid Sep.every
year. The total precipitation falls in Hawf area is unique in the arid climate of the
Arab Peninsula.The processthat the forest receivesthe rain is knoWn'as~~is
In this processthe rain occursfonD the cumulonimbuscloudswhich resultsfrom the
\:. .
wind that is sa~d
with water vapour and then condensedwhen it passover the
cool surfaceof the seasurface.The rain fall is lessat the seacoast(lessthan 100m)
and in the middle elevationreceivesup to 500 mIn. The vegetationcover suggested
as the most effect factor for condensingthe moisture.The rain mostly occursin form
The Forestis dominatedby Anogeissusdhofaricaas it is one of native speciesof the
regIon. However, beside Anogeissus other speCIes like Acacia, Jatropha,
Commiphora,Ficus, Delonix, Basica, Allophylus and Adenium are also presentin
considerablerate. During the rainy seasonthe forest experiencesrapid vegetative
growth and the forest trees,shrubsand grassbecomevery greenbut they changedto
dry and shed their leaves during the dry season.However, specieslike Acacia,
Boscia, Cissus and Delonix remain green and flower during 4TY season.The plant
density is highest in the zone that has elevation from 0-300 m. In this zone there is
4723 plant/ha can be found..In the zone of 300-600m there is 3811 plant/ha.In the
zonethat is over 600 m the reporteddensityis 4534plant/ha.
There many forest dwellers who considerthe forest as their homeland.They can be
(
consideredas an integral part of the forest ecosystemThe community who lives in
the forest are called Maharic and found scattered in the forest landscape in
communities of 2-5 families (1.0 -20 individuals). The Maharic are poor and
household~gs
are
subsistence
-
are low that do not meet the basic needs.The main occupations
rain-fed
-
agriculture
and
herding.
The
livestock
resources
include
cows, sheep,goats,donkeyand camel.The householdpossessionof the cattle might
fairly be high but,the real value is low due to the distant market. In the settlements
near the coast like Jadeband Rahanthe main occupationof the people is fishing.
Recently, there is a trend of using Hawf Forest as a recreatio~l area and many
people start paying visits to the areaand this might help the forest dweller through
creationof newjobs andthus it:Ilprovetheir living situation.
..,.
Iraff Forest
lraff forest is situatedin the westernregion of Labajj Governorateat the foothill of
the north west escarpmentof Almaqatirah. Iraff is consideredas connectingpoint
betweenthe dry coastalareaandthe temperatemountainousareabetweenthe 44° 33'
31" and 44° 16' 18" longitudes and 130 05 51" and 13° 09' 39" latitudes.
Administratively, lraff area comesunder Almaqatirah District, Labajj Governorate,
The total areaof Iraft' forest is estimatedas 400 ha. The forest was undercommunal
ownership but recently the ownership is limited to the community inhabiting the
forest and they are about35 ownerships.The populationwho lives in Iraff forestarea
is very small and they would not exceed800 personswithin 150families andthey are
living in 16 small villages.
For the last decadesthe areaof Iraff was ktlown for its ecologicalbalancedue to the
prevailing nOmlSthat presideover all peoplebehavioursincluding the exploitationof
the natural resources.This has helpedto conservethe small forest and woodlandin
the area.However, like other regions,many new things happenedand changedthe
balanceandthen leadto the deteriorationof the vegetationcover.ne changescanbe
seenas changefrom seasonalpastoralto stableform of living that dependson land
reclamationand cultivation. This lead to a high population growth accompaniedby
m~y socio-economicactivities that affected the forest vegetation.An examplefor
this is the growing demandfor fuel wood, road construction and commercial fuel
woOdfelling. Theseconsequences
lead to a greatretreatin the vegetationcover area
speciallythe Juniperuswhich wasreducedby 50% during the last threedecades
There is no detailed study for the vegetationcover in IrafI forest. However, the last
study reported45 plant speciesbut only 33 of it have beenclassified.The.vegetative
coveLin Iraff area has three layers:
1- The tree layers which comprisevegetationsthat have height of 1.5 m and above.
This layer composedmainly ftom Juniperustrees but other specieslike Altamg,
Aldhalam, Aldhuraim, Alethnaband Qaily can also be observed.
2- Shrublayer wherethe heightdoesn'texceed1.5 m and comprisesspecieslike
Alhomar, Alhamroor and Alfatah.
3- Grasslayer that only comprisesgrassesand seasonalplants.
The vegetationdensity seemsto be independentfrom the altitudesvariations.At the
190 - 1380 m altitude, the reportedtree density was over 380 trees/haand mainly
composedof Dodonea viscosa and Juniperusprocera.The density was 160.- 660
tree/ha at 1275 - 1420 m and composedof ar.ewia, Kilab and Juniperus.At the
altitude abOve1300m dominatedby Acacia etbaicaand JUniperusandthis is an open
woodlandandthe tree densityis lessthan 200 trees/ha.
There are four forms of plant community reportedby Homaimeed,1998.Theseare
Dodoneaviscosaand Juniperusproceraand this form the most important community
form. It hasdensevegetationtl1atreached1380treesper hectarebeside15-30shrubs
and 10-15 grasses.The secondform is the Grewia and Juniperuscommunity and
consideredas moderatedensecommunity (240-660 tree/ha)But this form occupies
the highestareaamongthe other communityform. Two other communitiesof minor
importanceare the Kilab and Juniperusthat has fair density 160 -320,tree/haand the
Acacia etbaica and Juniperus community which has low density (less than 20
tree/ha).
Throughout the time IrafI forest has played an important stability role for people
there through supporting the socio--economicactivity of the people in IratI. The
forest provides a grazing ground for the livestock owned by the local people.It also
servesa feeding ground for the honey bee that is kept by the people. Last but not
least, the forest also provides the people with the energy required through the fuel
wood in addition to the required poles for the house construction and agricultural
~
equipments.
Soqattra Island
Soqattrais the biggest islands of Yemen and situatedin the Indian Oceanbetween
12° 19' and 12° 42' latitude and 53°20' and 53°30' longitudes. The island has a
surfaceareaof 3625 km2 and comesunderthe GovernorateofHadhramout. Soqattra
is one of the richest regionsin term of vegetationcover. It comprisesmore than 828
plant speciesof them 260 speciesare indigenousones and there are 8 threatened
speciesin Island. The vegetation cover is traditional used for fodder, fuel wood,
poles, food, gUm/resin extraction and other medicinal uses.
It is hard to consider the vegetation cover of the Island as a real forest, but the fact is
that the island has a noticeableplant speciesthat have commercial and medicinal
values such as Buxus hildabrandti which is one of the hard wood species. In addition,
there are some species that are used for dyes extraction e.g., Gaillonia tiactaria and
Indigferaruccellatiuctori,Dracaenacinnebariwhich is usedas a sourceof ~resin.The Boswelia spp.is usedfor extractinglocally-used-chewinggum.
The Island can be.divided into three physiographicregions namely; Coastalplains,
Calcic escarpmentand Highlands. The coastal plain and near by hilly areasare
dominatedby Adanum obsum. In the plains, there is densepresenceof Elacarpus
transultus,Omocarpum caeuleumand Mussoendacapsulifera.The escarpmentand
highlandaredominatedby the PlucheaEuryops/P. siadiaand Dracaenacinnebari.
There are 85000 people inhabiting the island. The people's main occupationsare
herding and fishing, nevertheless,there is a recent interestin agricultureandthis can
be projected from !the interest.in orchards establishment and agricultural land
reclamation.The agricultureland represents1.5%of the Island area.
Mangroves Forest
The mangrovesare group of tropical and sub tropical trees that grow in salty or
slightly salty medium and confined to the tideland. It is characterizedby the aerial
root systemand its seedsgrow on the tree before it fells in the growing medium.
There are many mangroves'speciesbut in Yemen there are only two species,the
black and the red Shura'a(Avicennamarina and Rhizopheramucronata).The former
is widely availab.1e
comparedto the later, which has limited area.
Thereare many roles playedby the mangrovesforest in Yemen. It plays as incubator
and hatching medium for fish eggs, servesas habitat for local and migrate birds,
protect the shore against the erosion and damages by waves and wind, provide green
scenery and serve as credit for the tourism and resort. In addition, mangroves trees
are suitable and being used for house and boat construction. It serves also as fodder
for somecamelsand goats.
Mangrovesare found in scatteredarea along the Red Sea, in islands close
coast. However, the main regions that have dense mangroves are Khor Katheib and
Aljathmeiah to the north of Hodiedah and Wadi Siham. Other minor mangroves
locations include the Qandal Island that is situated to the w~st of Khor Katheib and
Kamaran Island, island besides AIIUhayyiah, the area between Alarj and Ras Eisa'a
south east of Asulaif, south of Alkhoba, Jalilah, Aldubaiah, Alzaharyiah,
Almulk, Mokha and Alareerah
Uttomah Forest
Uttomah district is situated 50 km in the western part of Dhamar governorate. It is
formed of 5 sub districts (Samah, Herniar Alwasat, Mahal, Bani Bahr and Razih. The
topography of the district is mainly high mountainous and embrace many valleys that
comprise the main tributaries for Wadi Rima and Wadi Zabid in the north, eastern
north and the south and western south res~ctively. The area of the district is 460 sq.
kin. The district is announce,das protected area in early June 1999.
Jabal Allawz Forest
The Jabal Allawz forest is situated 3300 m above the sea level and it is 50 kin east of
Sana'a city in Khawlan area between Bani Bahlool and Bani Hushaish. The area of
the forest is estimatedto be 264 ha and the tree inventory showed that there are
11969Juniperus,4000 Talah, Lawaz 680.and 1372 of the other species.The socioeconomicactivities of the people there are agriculture and herding. The economic
importance of this forest lays in the factthat it is most valuable source of Juniperus
trees as the pole of this specieskeeps it viability and strength for longer period
compared to other tree species in Yemen.
Existing State of Forest Utilizations and their Impacts
Forest resourcesplay crucial role for the rural people everywhereas it provides
sources for fuel wood, poles, food, fodders and minor produ~tion. However,
excessiveand uncontrolled usesof these benefits will deterioratethe forest stateto
the point that it will no more being capable to continue providing such services and
benefits. Rural people might have the excusesfor such over exploita.ti°n, but the
tragedy is that they are the flfSt people who will suffer when the forest resources
disappear or jeopardised. Thus, wise use of forest resources is not the responsibilities
of forest dwellerS but it is every one responsibility becaUseat the end the whole
societywill suffer. The wise and plannedusageof forest serviceswill not only help
people in remote areasbut it will. help the forest itself by facilitating the processof
natural regeneration. The following are the major benefits and services provided by
the existing forestSand protect ar~
of Yemen With few exceptional cases,the
fundamentalbenefits of forests are similar but it might differ in the intensity from
one area to another.
Poles
The forest is the main sourcefor poles for the people in Bura' a, Hawf and Iraff.
People use the poles for home construction, doors, windows and smail home
furniture. The pole length rangesfrom 2.5 -3.00 m. The main sourcefor the polesis
\
the Jwriperusbut other Acacia speciesare also use for thesepurposes:It is very rare
to transport the poles to the near by towns and cities becausethe people there in
towns and cities prefer the sawn wood over the local round wood. However, the
presentforest stateis not competentto meet the local peopleneeds,leaving asidethe
nearby cities needs.The price of pole variesdependingon the speciesand loca~on
Fuel wood and charcoal
Fuel wood extracted from the forest is the major source of energy for the rural
people. The person consumesabout 0.9 -3.00 kg of fuel wood per day. The forest
dwellers in obtain fuel wood from the following species:Juniperus,Aloe,.Caralluma,
Cissus,Euphorbia,Qaradh,Altamg, Al maqar,Aimaanaaand Alhomor. Someof the
forest trees are felled for the production of charcoal.Usually charcoalproducedby
small business men who are not forest dwellers but they provide employment
opportutritiesfor the forest dwellers. The charcoalrepresentsthe real threat for the
forest treesbecauseit is being producedin commercialquantitiesnot to meet forest
dwellers needs.There are no laws or regulations to organise the production and
movementof the charcoalandthis is the real risk for the forest.resources.
Herding (grazing)
Due to the scarcityof agricultural landsanimal herding is the major activities for the
forest dwellers in Yemen.The forest peoplekeep and rear different livestock suchas
cows, goats, sheepdonkeys and in few casescameL Some of the forest dwellers
benefit from the forest as grazing ground for their cows for six months while the
goatsand sheepusethe forest through out the year. The grazing doesnot follow any
systematicapproachand herdersmay drive their animals allover the forest without
exemptingany marginal lands or rare species.Here the threat will emergebecause
after a period of time ~ere will be no new regenerationand forest vegetationcover
deterioratebeforeit totally vanisht the end.
Honey bee keeping
Honeybeekeepingis one of the safeutilization of the forest resourcesthat would not
bring any harm to the forest vegetation.Honey bee keeping is an old traditional
occupationthat provide additional source of income for the forest dwellers. The
experienceand interestsof the dwellersdiffers from one forest to anotherand it hard
to singleout any skilled honeybeeproducersamongYemeni forest dwellers.In Iraff,
the averagethe household has about 18 hives and some householdshave been
reportedto have 150 hives. The production of a single hive could give return of YR
6000 per year h1 Bura'a Forest is the honey bee production is relatively new thing
recently introduced to the area.
Minor forest benefits
The forest and protectedareaof Yemenprovide many minor benefitssuchas species
that is being used as food, for example Tamrindus Indica, Ziziphus spp. and
Commiphoraspp.There are someother speciesusedfor medicinal purposessuchas
Commiphora
gileadensis
.
(antiseptic)
and Commiphora
habessinica
(asthma).
mangroves forest has an important environment role beside the scenery value,
hatchingmedium for the prawn and fishes.
Finally, the developmentactivities; e.g.,road constructionin Bura'a Forest,is one of
the activities that worsenthe forest state.RoadconstrUctionaffectsthe forest directly
by removing trees and other vegetation, deteriorating.the forest environment and
marginal areas:It also affects the forest through in direct way by facilitating the
transportation of illegaVuncontrolled tree felling and cutting. However,
constrUctiondoes have benefit to the society as whole, forest vegetationand forest
dwellers. Salt mines, boat port and prawn farDls are other exampleof development
activitiesthat will affect rare mangrovesforest and needspecialattention.
Conclusion
The forest and protectedareasof Yemenare rare greenareasin the dry Arabian
Peninsula.Theseare'asserveas living museumthat include rare plant speciesandthe
remotelocation of theseresourceshashelpedto savethem from disappearance.
The
forestsof Yemen are natural regeneratedthereforeno wonder they are low producer
and missingeffective managementsystem.Even though,the potential of thesefor~sts
areasare not well utilized as the currentfonDSof utilizations showedtraditional and
primitive utilization forms.
There are no independent reliable source as regard to the quantities, values,
utilization and employmentinvolved in forest productsand servicesprovided by the
forest resources.However the reports of the GDFDC, Ministry of Agriculture and
Irrigation (MAl) suggestthat the forestresourcesmeetentire local rural demandfrom
fuel wood, charcoal,andpolesfor rural houseconstruction.
One of the admiIristrativeobstaclesfor forest developmentin Yemen is the conflict
of interestbesideinterlink of responsibilitiesbetweenofficial "government" bodies
Another obstaclethe forestsface is the rights and concessionsfor the forest dwellers
and the absenceof legislation and regulationthat control such things. Last but not
least, almost all Yemen forests have no clear statusfor the land ownershipand this
hinderstheir developmentandtheir survival aswell.