Over 60,000 trees planted during Jeddah campaign

The people of Jeddah joined hands with the Jeddah Municipality in planting more than 60,000 plants and trees as part of the “Tree Planting Week” campaign.
Friends of Jeddah, students and residents and several organizations — both government and private — volunteered to participate in the initiative to make Jeddah beautiful and keep it green.
Jeddah Mayor Hani bin Mohammed Abu Ras inaugurated the 24th Jeddah tree planting week with the plantation of trees and plants on Jeddah streets and neighborhood. The aim, he said, was to spread awareness about environment as also to increasing the amount of green spaces.
Mohammed Kattan, the general manager of the gardens and landscaping, told Arab News that the goal of the municipality is to maintain ecological balance and to increase the beauty of the city with fresh plants and flowers.
The municipality, he said, will use latest equipment in agriculture and landscaping, as well as shrubs and trees. All government agencies were involved in the second day of the campaign. Education Ministry officials and other staff members besides over 1,000 students joined the campaign the following day in the presence of Abdullah Al-Thaqafi, the director-general of education.
The municipality will distribute flowers and small plants in public hospitals, charitable organizations, and societies, as well as to the Autism Society of Jeddah at the conclusion of the campaign, he said.
Last year, 74 gardens were established totalling almost 370,000 square meters. This contributed to taking the total green area in Jeddah to 17.7 million square meters, indicating that the total number of parks in Jeddah reached up to 540, said the municipality in its latest report.