Planted forests
Description of plantation resources
Introduction
The Syrian Arab Republic is located in western Asia on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. The climate of the country is mild and annual precipitation varies between 200 and 400 mm. Due to the increased demand for wood and non-wood forest products, the government has developed afforestation projects to obtain these products, to prevent the soil erosion and to protect the infrastructure from winds and erosion.
Development of forest plantations
Afforestation activities in Syria started in 1953 when a total of 74 000 tree seedlings were planted on about 16 ha. By 1970 the total plantation area in the country was 2 800 ha.
In 1977, increased attention was paid to afforestation programs. At this time, the plan was to produce about 25 million seedlings and plant 12 000 ha annually.
In 1984, seedling production and planted area were doubled to 24 000 ha and 30 million seedlings annually. By 1998, the total planted area reached 222 291 ha distributed as follows: Damascus 1 342 ha, Rural Damascus 23 507 ha, Deraa 7 948 ha, Al-Sweida 8 070 ha, Al-Qunaitra, 2 024 ha, Homs 26 215 ha, Hama 19 044 ha, Al-Gab 5 138 ha, Aleppo 30 954 ha, Idleb 36 685 ha, Lattakia 7 794 ha, Tartous 13 633 ha, Al-Rekka 12 036 ha, Deer Alzoor 4 429 ha and Al-Haska 23 972 ha.
Species composition
The main species used in afforestation programs are Pinus brutia, Pinus pinea, Pinus halepensis, Cupressus spp., Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. meliodora and E. gomphocephala, Pistacia spp. and Pyrus syriaca. Reagarding Pistacia spp., they are used as timber after harvesting nuts for years. Other tree species planted are: Acacia cyanophylla, Gladitsia triacanthos, Robinia pseudoacacia, Tamarix spp., Casuarina cunninghamiana, Sophora japonica, Cedrus lebani, Abies cilicica, Ceratonia siliqua, Castania sativa and Louris nabilis.
Trend
The plantation policy aims to prevent soil erosion, increase the "green area", increase the area of plantations and to use soils for plantations that are not suitable for agriculture or fruit crops.
Issues
Most of the planted areas are located in the inland regions of the country. Accordingly, the survival rate of the planted seedlings is affected by the adverse environmental conditions and seedlings need irrigation during the first years after being planted. In the last few years the survival rate was 65%-75% due to a drought. The unsuccessful plantations are replanted in the following seasons.
When plantation projects are established in the calcareous lands owned by the government where calcium carbonate reaches more than 70 percent it is necessary to prepare the site using heavy-duty mechanical equipment.
References
Ziad Al-Jebaoui. 1999. Forest and plantations in Syria. Department of Forestry. Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform. (in Arabic)