The Omani Herders Who Turn Desert Mountains Into Life | SLICE

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:09]The residents of the small village of Maribeth have always been dependent on livestock rearing.

[00:00:18]Traditionally, the men work in the fields and the women take care of the animals.

[00:00:27]Every morning, Alzalfa Alsudi helps her goats suckle their young.

[00:00:37]Some mothers need a bit of help to feed their offspring.

[00:00:43]So, the herder makes sure every kid eats its fill.

[00:00:55]After suckling, she takes the adults to graze in the mountains.

[00:01:04]The agile animals climb the steep mountain slopes where scrubby vegetation has taken hold.

[00:01:14]No. No.

[00:01:16]Woah. Woah.

[00:01:19]These scrubs and bushes are enough to sustain them for much of the year.

[00:01:28]This bush here is swed.

[00:01:31]It's all dry now, but when it's green, it's very good for the goats.

[00:01:39]We call this an albab.

[00:01:41]This plant produces fruit that we sell at the market.

[00:01:45]The animals eat them with or without the flowers.

[00:01:51]It's good for their organism and their muscles.

[00:01:56]And it smells nice too.

[00:02:04]The goats spend the morning looking for tender leaves.

[00:02:07]Then they make their way home to the pen.

[00:02:16]We make sure they're all home.

[00:02:20]If one is missing or has got lost If that were the case, I would miss them terribly.

[00:02:30]I'm very fond of them all.

[00:02:32]This one is called Akuf.

[00:02:36]And that's Izalo.

[00:02:37]He's sad because his mother doesn't suckle him.

[00:02:40]And her name is Iloa. It means gentle, pretty.

[00:02:48]At the end of March, when spring arrives, the mountain vegetation does not provide enough nutrition for the goats.

[00:02:56]So as Alfa supplements their diet.

[00:03:01]Every day the goats get a ration of sardines and nourishing dates.

[00:03:11]While the kids and the weakest adults feast on fresh fodder picked by Alfa's brothers in the nearby oasis.

[00:03:22]They give us dates as do other people from the outside and our close friends.

[00:03:27]They give us things, we give them things.

[00:03:30]We trade with them.

[00:03:32]We exchange produce or livestock.

[00:03:36]And they give us money, vegetables and other items.

[00:03:45]In Jabal Akhdar, farmers and breeders have cooperated since time immemorial.

[00:03:54]But meat and fodder are not the only things they trade.

[00:04:00]Another, more unusual commodity is also prized.

[00:04:12]Mohammed Al Rawahi is an ecologist.

[00:04:15]For several years now, he has been studying the oasis soil with Andreas Buerkert.

[00:04:31]So, you can see they have here uh goats and sheep's manure. Yes. But in the other field, they have also cows Cow manure.

[00:04:40]>> Yeah, exactly.

[00:04:41]Which depending on where the resource is from.

[00:04:44]>> Exactly.

[00:04:44]>> they get it from the Jabal Or >> Or from from here. From here.

[00:04:51]You can see from the soil how it's fertile from even the color and you can see the amount of the manure that they applied here in the in this village especially. They applied a lot of manure and that's will increase, you know, the organic carbon in the in the soil. But the carbon, especially the carbon is important for this the micro fauna like the worm and also the micro organisms so they can do their job for mineralize the organic matter so the plants can uptake it.

[00:05:21]Nothing goes to waste in Jabal Akhdar.

[00:05:24]From neighboring farms, nutrient-rich manure is used as natural fertilizer in the plantations.

[00:05:32]People here are more uh doing agriculture and people up in the mountains, they are more herders.

[00:05:39]They have more goats and sheep.

[00:05:41]They bring them the foods and the others bring the meats and the also the manure.

[00:05:48]Because of this trade-off, and this is close loop between these two groups, these oasis were survived and sustained all the harsh conditions.

[00:06:00]In this remote desert region, the trading between farmers and herders has meant the oasis have always had healthy and fertile soil.

[00:06:14]These wonderful gardens attract many insects.

[00:06:20]And the falaj tunnels provide shelter to reptiles and amphibians.

[00:06:28]All of this wildlife has taken advantage of these man-made ecosystems.

[00:06:36]But it is not alone.

[00:06:39]The oasis terraces are also home to many wildflowers.

[00:06:52]For 25 years, Annette Patzelt and her colleagues have roamed the Omani mountain range, identifying the plant life growing around the oasis gardens.

[00:07:08]Jebel Akhdar has one of the biggest varieties of wildflowers in Oman.

[00:07:14]Opportunistic species that have taken hold in the oasis.

[00:07:23]As well as the cultivated plants, there's also an incredible amount of wild herbs, especially in the herbaceous strata under the cultivated trees and shrubs.

[00:07:35]A shady There's shade, and more water.

[00:07:39]In the desert, it wouldn't be possible.

[00:07:42]You don't find these plants here.

[00:07:44]But here in this man-made environment, it's a bit like an island in the desert.

[00:07:52]So, let's check the the walls and see what we can find.

[00:07:59]During their field studies, the scientists have identified many wild species in the gardens and in the cracks in the walls supporting the terraces.

[00:08:09]Past will not happen.

[00:08:11]There are almost 100 species.

[00:08:13]So, a great variety of plants.

[00:08:16]And it's because for centuries no pesticides or other chemical products were used.

[00:08:21]Quite the reverse was true.

[00:08:23]These terraces were cultivated in a very ordinary, very traditional way.

[00:08:29]And here at altitude, we find a fair amount of plants such as this gray field speedwell.

[00:08:35]It has pretty blue flowers.

[00:08:37]But it's a bit late in the year for flowers.

[00:08:40]You can already see the fruit.

[00:08:43]And this plant is only found here in northern Oman in these oases.

[00:08:50]Saif Al Hatmi and Abdulrahman Al Hinai work for the Oman Botanic Gardens.

[00:08:57]These ethnobotanists have identified some 30 medicinal plants used by the locals to treat stomach ache, fever, and skin conditions.

[00:09:09]Some of these plants are also used to treat animals.

[00:09:15]This plant here, it is a belongs to the Solanaceae family.

[00:09:19]It's called Datura metel. That's the scientific name. And the common name is devil's trumpet.

[00:09:25]So, devil's trumpet, it's related to the the shape of the the flowers.

[00:09:30]Why is devil's? Because it's cause hallucination.

[00:09:34]So, the plant is used the for treating animals like for instance if people they saw their animals like they are refusing to eat and they were losing weight.

[00:09:45]So they're using the fruit when it's ripe. That's improving their appetite and they start to eat more.

[00:09:59]So the oases cure people and animals as well as nourishing them.

[00:10:05]These rich ecosystems are evidence of the scales of Jebel Akhdar's farmers.

[00:10:13]But this traditional form of agriculture is under threat.