The winter camping season 2021-22 has begun, enabling campers to enjoy quality times with their families and friends away from hustle and bustle of city life.
The six-month long winter camping season which began on October 18 provides campers with an opportunity to enjoy the simplicity of nature, live the life of their forefathers and teach the new generations about Qatari customs, traditions and importance of natural life.
The camping season is a very special and popular tradition among Qatari society since ancient times, as most people camped in deserts yearly by the beginning of winter until the end of spring. The pleasant weather of winter season invites them to escape from the cities to open places close to the nature and fresh air.
One of the important health benefits of camping is that it reduces stress by removing day-to-day activities like work pressure, traffic and the rush of city life, replacing them with the calming effect of bird song, the sound of waves crashing on the beach and the winds.
Assistant Director of Department of Natural Reserves, Salem Hussein Al Safran
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change represented by the Protection and Wildlife Department supervises winter camping to ensure the safety of campers and preserve environment. Winter camping season has brought various business opportunities, starting from supplying gears to setting up tents to provide campers with necessities.
The camping season is a boon for small businesses which get golden opportunities to make some profits. Department of Natural Reserves at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change received many applications to issue licences for running business activities to serve the campers. Speaking to The Peninsula at a recent event, Assistant Director of Department of Natural Reserves, Salem Hussein Al Safran, said that two camping places Al Ghariya and Sealine, which host large number of camps have been earmarked to allow to open outlets for serving campers.
“The Department received many applications to issue licences for business activities which campers need such as supermarket, shops for electric items, firewood among many more,” said Al Safran. He said that after assessing the applications, the department will make contracts with outlets and issue the licences to operate in the two places.
The stores for supplying camping gears provide campers with necessary items such as tents, bags, barbecue equipment, benches, floors, coal, firewood and all other requirements. Tents are among highly sought items during camping season as campers prefer to set them up even if they have caravans.
To preserve the environment and ensure a smooth camping season, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change put certain term and conditions for camping.
According to the camping regulation, the licensee must comply with the provisions of the relevant laws and ministerial decisions, in particular those related to environmental protection.
Director of Friends of Environment Centre, Farhoud Hadi Al Hajri
The licence is issued for personal use, so the site should not be rented, and it is prohibited to use it for other activities than those licensed for it, or to use materials harmful to the environment inside the camping areas.
The licensee must maintain hygiene, not harm the land or marine environment. No excavation work is allowed, whether in the land or marine environment, and the trees or plants on the site must not be affected.
Camping in meadows is not allowed, and it must be at least 100 metres away from them. It is also prohibited to enter cars and bicycles inside the meadows and pasture.
The environmental organisations and activist stepped up efforts to preserve the environment during the camping season. Director of Friends of Environment Centre, Farhoud Hadi Al Hajri, said that the centre launched awareness about camping ahead of camping season by educating campers about the importance of environment.
Speaking in a Qatar TV programme recently, he said: “Under the campaign, we tried to approach the campers through social media and other means to educate them to avoid committing environmental violations such as destroying meadows, wild trees for firewood and other illegal practices.”
He said that the Friends of the Environment Centre in collaboration with authorities concerned launched initiative to plant trees at the places of camping.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, represented by the Protection and Wildlife Department allocated spaces at many places across the country for camping this year.
To ensure a smooth camping, the registration for camping opened in three phases and dates were also given accordingly.
In the first phase, the registration opened on October 17 to receive applications for camping in Al Shamal, Al Ghashamiyah, Ain Mohamad, Al Nqian, Al Kharara, Mekainis, Sealine, Ras Matbakh, Arida, Zekrit, Ashiraj, and Umm Al Maa.
Camping began on October 18 for six months.
In the second phase, the registration started on October 19 for camping in Al Reem Reserve, Al Marona, Al Mazrouha, Umm Al Aafa’i, Al Hasham, Abu Zahlof, Al Zubara, Al Udaid, Al Khuraij South, and Bu Samra and camping started from October 20 for six months.
The third phase of registration began on October 21 for camping in Rawdat Rashed, Rawdat Aisha, Umm Al Ezam, Al Khor, Al Waab, Al Zakhira North, Al Otouryah, Al Sane’ah, Al Khuraib North, Al Ghariyah, Al Mufair, and Ras Al Nouf. The camping will start from October 22 for six months.
