المملكة: Rehabilitation of 250 thousand hectares of land

The Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Chairman of the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP16), Abdul Rahman bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Fadhli, confirmed that the environmental system’s journey began with systematic work based on strategies and plans, which culminated in raising the level of ambition by announcing the goals of the Saudi initiative. Green, to rehabilitate (40) million hectares of degraded lands, equivalent to planting (10) billion trees.
He announced the rehabilitation of more than (250) thousand hectares of land within the goals of the initiative, and the planting of more than (115) million trees by the end of the year.

This came during a dialogue session entitled “Leadership in Climate Action and Sustainable Development” within the International Afforestation Technology Exhibition and Forum during the “COP 16” conference, in order to shed light on the Kingdom’s environmental goals, initiatives and strategies, the international roadmap for Saudi Arabia in environmental work, and the most prominent achievements of the two Saudi Green Initiatives. And the green Middle East.

cup 16

Engineer Al-Fadhli said that the Kingdom launched an initiative during its presidency of the G20 summit in 2020 AD, to rehabilitate degraded lands, in addition to launching the Green Middle East Initiative to plant (50) billion trees, in addition to developing executive plans, and developing capabilities to preserve water sources, and secure sources of seeds and seedlings. To contribute to the implementation of afforestation goals.

He pointed out that the food security strategy aims to reduce the percentage of food waste and loss from (33%) to (15%) by the end of 2030 AD, indicating that the agricultural sector is responsible for (14%) of carbon emissions, and reducing food waste and loss by (50%), will contribute In reducing emissions by a large percentage, he pointed out that the Kingdom was recycling (500) thousand cubic meters of water in the agricultural sector, and today we are recycling (two million) cubic meters, and we aim to recycle (90%) of the treated water within A journey to achieve sustainability and reduce environmental impacts.

Waste recycling

He added that the Kingdom is working according to a strategy concerned with the circular economy, recycling waste, and preserving primary resources, as it has succeeded in eliminating the burning of fuel to produce water, and was consuming about (300) thousand barrels per day, and next year the burning of fuel will be completely eliminated, and it is working to achieve Balancing water depletion and economic development without harming water sources.
Minister Al-Fadhli pointed out that the Kingdom had a financial budget amounting to (25) billion cubic meters of water annually, which is equivalent to Egypt’s share of the Nile water annually, and these quantities of water cannot be used, so we developed a program concerned with the crop structure that determines the crops that must be used. It is grown and cannot be grown due to its depletion of water. We have identified (11) strategic commodities, some of which we can produce in the Kingdom. We have the “SALIC” company for agricultural investment abroad, and thus we contribute to increasing the food supply. In the world, through these plans, we were able to save approximately (10) billion cubic meters of water budget, and we determined the safe withdrawal of water until 2030 AD.

Saudi Green Initiative

He pointed out that groundwater is not the only source of drinking water, as the Kingdom depends on desalinated water by (65%), and today we produce and buy water at a third of the value compared to 2016, and we use treated water for afforestation and achieving the goals of the Saudi Green Initiative.
He explained that the private sector is an essential partner in implementing the Green Saudi Initiative, and its contribution reaches (50%) of the afforestation achievements, and today environmental associations and green associations have multiplied about (25) times to contribute to the implementation of the Green Saudi Initiative, noting that the Kingdom has announced a goal of reaching (30%) of the Kingdom’s marine and terrestrial area as protected areas by 2030 AD, more than a year and a half before the international commitment was announced.