Enhancing Afforestation: Saudi Green Initiative to Incorporate All Environmental Projects
Saudi Arabia is planning to incorporate all the existing environmental projects and programs under the umbrella of the “Saudi Green Initiative.”
This move aligns with the Kingdom’s efforts to realize all of its environmental goals. As part of its ambitious Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has launched several initiatives and poured substantial investments into green energy to achieve net zero and promote sustainable development.
Environmental Projects
The Kingdom plans to integrate all the environmental projects and programs from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, Asharq Al-Awsat reported citing sources.
For this purpose, the Saudi government has asked relevant committees to list the existing environmental projects that support the Saudi Green Initiative’s goals and incorporate them according to set criteria. Hence, all sectors are required to report past tree-planting activities to the National Afforestation Program.
Afforestation Efforts
Saudi Arabia is putting a lot of efforts to increase green spaces by planting large number of trees. As part of its Afforestation Program, the Kingdom aims to plant 10 billion trees, and rehabilitate 74 million hectares of degraded land. This will help in restoring ecological functions, improving air quality, reducing sandstorm, preserving biodiversity, and combating desertification.
Since its establishment in 2023, the National Afforestation Program has planted 43.9 million trees and restored 94,000 hectares of land. This progress reinforces the goal of planting 10 billion tress over the coming decades.
The Saudi National Afforestation Program aims to significantly increase the Kingdom’s green cover, in order to address environmental challenges and create more sustainable environment for future generations, in addition to beautifying landscapes.
Increasing Vegetation
According to Asharq Al-Awsat, there are more than 40 projects underway, all of which aim to plant over 600 million trees and rehabilitate 8 million hectares of land by 2030.
In October 2023, a detailed two-year feasibility study was unveiled, designed to enhance vegetation across the Kingdom, featuring over 1,150 field surveys with expert participation. The study revealed that tree planting and land rehabilitation projects will start at different sites, including mangroves, wetlands, mountain forests, grasslands, national parks and valleys.
The plan consists of two phases. The first phase, which lasts until the end of this decade, will focus on nature-based rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the second phase, which starts in 2030, will adopt a comprehensive approach, drawing on lessons from the first phase.
Combating Desertification
As part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to combat desertification and achieve environmental sustainability, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) has harnessed scientific research to develop innovative solutions for afforestation.
This has included transforming organic landfills for desert afforestation and carbon capture; and adopting a vision that focuses on enhancing desert agriculture, desert reclamation, urban afforestation, establishment of public parks and green spaces.
Tangible Benefits
Environmental projects and programs have great benefits. Increasing vegetations and boosting rehabilitation efforts will create more jobs, combat desertification, reduce the impacts of sandstorms, and improve the quality of life for residents.
Furthermore, urban areas and cities will benefit from the increased tree density, which contributes to lowering temperatures, reducing pollution and improving air quality.
Saudi Green Initiative
Launched in March 2021 by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Green Initiative aims to achieve three main targets: to help the Kingdom achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, support its green transformation, and protect land and sea.
To this end, the Saudi Green Initiative has launched more than 80 initiatives to reduce emissions, enhance afforestation efforts and protect biodiversity. These include investing in new energy sources, enhancing energy efficiency, as well as developing a program for carbon capture and storage.
