RIYADH: A Saudi university’s specialist desert agriculture center has joined forces with a Riyadh-based engineering consultancy firm to lead a consortium delivering plans for the Greening Saudi Project.

Under the auspices of Dr. Tony Chan, president of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Dr. Khalid Al-Abdulkader, chief executive officer of the Center for Vegetation Development and Desertification Prevention, KAUST’s Center for Desert Agriculture signed an agreement with Imar Engineering Consulting.

The deal aims to provide scientific and technical expertise for the project and partner with Imar on the delivery of its overall strategy.

The Center for Desert Agriculture provides the scientific and technological foundation for the strategic planning for an optimized, sustainable, and ecologically viable increase in the vegetative footprint of the Kingdom.

It will outline what species to plant and how to maintain sustainably, in the process providing an integrated system of afforestation initiatives for varied habitats throughout the Kingdom.