Hara Mangrove Forest Source of Revenue for Qeshm's Natives

BENA- '' The virgin forest attracts lots of tourists to the region who take advantages of native leaders for visiting the forest,'' said senior tourism expert of Qeshm Geo Park Iqbal Zabiri.

Native take tourist to the forest via boat and earn money through it, he added.
The "Hara Protected Area" is a biosphere reserve where commercial use is restricted to fishing (mainly shrimp), tourist boat trips, and limited mangrove cutting for animal feed.

The hara tree, Avicennia marina, grows to heights of three to eight meters and has bright green leaves and twigs. The tree is a salt-water plant that is often submerged at high tide. It usually blossoms and bears fruit from mid-July to August, with yellow flowers and a sweet almond-like fruit. The seeds fall into the water, where wave action takes them to more stationary parts of the sea. The hara seeds become fixed in the soil layers of the sea and grow. The area on the north shore of Qeshm and the neighboring mainland is particularly suited to the growth of the plant, and large mangrove forests have developed.



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