Saudi Arabia plants over 12m trees in the past 5 years as part of green push

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has planted over 12 million trees in the past five years through the National Center for Vegetation Development as the Kingdom moves toward achieving its sustainability goals as part of the Saudi Green Initiative, according to the annual report issued by the National Transformation Program for the year 2022.

The report reviewed the most prominent achievements of the program within the Kingdom’s Vision 2030’s second phase, which aims to develop promising as well as new sectors and support local content.  

The second phase also aims to further facilitate the business environment and create an enabling environment for the public, private, and non-profit sectors.  

The second phase of the program reported several achievements when it comes to environmental sustainability, which cements the goals and objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative. The initiative itself falls in line with Saudi Arabia’s goal of becoming a leading country in drawing a green future at an international level.   

According to the report, more than 22 percent of the treated water in the Kingdom was reused while recording a 35 percent increase in desalinated water production capacity over the past five years.  

Some of the other achievements included the release of up to 921 endangered animals in national parks and reserves, the first birth of the Arabian Oryx at the King Salman Royal Reserve, and the first birth of the Idmi Gazelle at the Ibex Reserve.   

The Kingdom also ranked first globally in date exportation in 2021, with the export value exceeding $304 million.   

“Integration between the public, private and non-profit sectors is the cornerstone of achieving the goals of the vision, and this is what we sought in the association,” Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Green Taif Association Saad Al-Otaibi said.   

This comes as the Kingdom is on track to transform Taif Governorate into a governorate that applies the foundations and principles of green cities.  

That said, practical steps are taken to achieve sustainability and harmonize between rapid growth and preserving the environment by restoring wildlife in natural environments in the open spaces and valleys of Taif. This is being done through dense afforestation, implementing effective policies for sustainability, using renewable energy, reducing waste and reducing emissions.