RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has planted more than 151 million trees and restored 500,000 hectares of land under its ambitious Saudi Green Initiative, which aims to plant a total of 10 billion trees.
Environment, Water and Agriculture Minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadley said the Kingdom has made substantial progress under the National Environment Strategy, advancing towards Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals in conservation, water sustainability, and food security, Arab News reported.
In a press briefing, Al-Fadley also revealed the launch of five specialised environmental centres, including the Middle East’s first Regional Centre for Climate Change Studies and the world’s fourth Regional Centre for Sand and Dust Storms.
“The Kingdom has (also) established an environmental fund that is the largest of its kind in the region, reflecting a serious commitment to supporting environmental initiatives,” the minister added.
Protected terrestrial areas in the Kingdom have expanded from covering 4.5 percent of its land to 18.1 percent, while the number of national parks has surged from 18 to 500.
Since the National Centre for Environmental Compliance was established in 2020, over 40,000 permits have been issued—an increase of 660 percent.
More than 8,000 endangered species have been reintroduced into their natural marine habitats since 2016, alongside a 260 percent growth in protected marine zones.
Monitoring services have also been enhanced across all sectors in the Kingdom, with 240 air-quality monitoring stations now operational, a new marine program to detect and manage oil spills, and advanced meteorological sensing and forecasting systems in place.
“We conducted 711 cloud‑seeding flights across regions and increased strategic (water) storage capacity by 600 percent,” increasing rainfall by 6.4 million cubic meters to encourage vegetation and nourish water resources, the minister said.
A number of grants, incentives, and environmental funds have been created to support academic collaboration and private sector innovation on mechanisms to divert 90 percent of waste from landfills by 2040.
Al-Fadley also confirmed that water projects worth over SR230 billion have been completed, which include public and private sector investments for infrastructure and reuse systems.
“Saudi Arabia was chosen by the UN Water Committee as a global model for water sustainability,” he said.
He added that the Kingdom was constructing 1,000 rainwater-harvesting dams with an annual capacity of 4 million cubic metres.
Al-Fadley said a major economic and cultural achievement was that the Kingdom was now the world’s top date exporter, completely self-sufficient in date production and distribution, as well as in milk and eggs.
