Winter Camping Season Starts in Qatar's Southern Region

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) announced that the Winter Camping Season has started in the country's southern region - Sealine and Khor al-Udeid - and will last until May 20, 2023.

The first phase, which began on September 29th, will last until April 1st, 2023, and will include the Northern and Central regions. This is considered to be the second phase of the camping season.

As a reminder, the campsite in the South Region has been moved as it was intended for cultural and fun activities for World Cup guests, such as learning about the local fauna, nature reserves, and wildlife.

Also, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has announced a ban on the installation and use of loudspeakers in the camps.

The ministry also urged everyone to protect the environment and their natural resources by using alternative and clean energy, planting seedlings and trees, maintaining campsites, and complying with the controls and conditions associated with camping, including complying with the assigned coordinates, to conserve to camp and distances between camps, farms, farmsteads, and villages in order to protect Qatar's environment, including land, plants, wildlife, coasts and beaches, and migratory birds, from polluting activities during the camping season.

The ministry has observed 1,626 camps set up during the six-month period in the last season.

The Assistant Director of the Department of Natural Reserves, Salem Hussain Al Safran, has previously stressed the importance of maintaining coordinates in camping activities, this includes keeping a distance of at least 100 m from meadows and valleys, maintaining an elevated position and avoiding government and service facilities and oil and gas pipelines at a distance of at least 500 m or as per the rules. . And keep a distance of at least 300 m between camps, ranches, farms, and villages.

Recently, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and Qatar University (QU) signed a contract to conduct field research demonstrating the environmental impact of winter camps in terms of social and environmental factors throughout the winter camping season.

Moreover, the course of action will allow QU's research centers to study how the camping season adversely affects the ecosystem.