ALULA, Saudi Arabia: The efforts of the Royal Commission for AlUla to conserve the region’s heritage have been acknowledged with the listing of Jabal Ikmah on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.
The RCU has been heavily investing in the study and conservation of sites such as Jabal Ikmah — which has been described as an “open-air library” situated in the world’s largest living museum — said a media statement on Wednesday.
Efforts to enhance the world’s understanding of the site, while improving visitors’ access in a sustainable way, have contributed to the public affirmation by UNESCO of the magnitude and international significance of AlUla’s documentary heritage.
Jose Ignacio Gallego Revilla, the commission’s archaeology and heritage research executive director, said the significance of the site’s inscriptions transcended regional boundaries to reach the level of global relevance, in particular as part of the evolution of Old Arabic languages and dialects.
He said: “Their authenticity and integrity, both for the information preserved about ancient societies as well as the conservation of the site, bring together the essentials that make this place unique for the Memory of the World as the chronicle of a lost time through the largest number of inscriptions in an ancient North Arabian script.”
The spectacular mountain and its sandstone canyons feature 450 historically significant carved inscriptions, most of which date from the second half of the first millennium B.C.
The site features the largest collection of inscriptions recording the ancient Dadanite Kingdom’s religious rituals, daily activities, and relations with neighboring peoples.
As a crossroads on the incense and pilgrimage routes, the AlUla oasis was a hub of commercial and cultural exchange. It hosted merchants of myrrh, frankincense, and other precious commodities. This cultural richness propelled the growth of settlements, including Dadan.
The Dadanite Kingdom flourished and developed its own alphabet form of the South Semitic writing system. The Dadanites then recorded their history through petroglyphs carved into the sloping red and yellow sandstone rocks of AlUla.
The greatest concentration of inscriptions is sheltered in the gorge of Jabal Ikmah, which is characteristic of AlUla’s jagged landscape formed by tectonic movements that date to the opening of the Red Sea 30 million years ago.
Many of Jabal Ikmah’s inscriptions reflect a variety of subjects such as rituals, kings, animals, and agriculture, key to the story of AlUla’s past.
Conservation of such landmarks is central to RCU’s vision for the future of AlUla, which emphasizes the region’s cultural heritage as both a beacon for tourism and a springboard for innovation and economic benefits that raise the quality of life for the community.
AlUla’s Jabal Ikmah receives world recognition, listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register
https://arab.news/yn8zf
AlUla’s Jabal Ikmah receives world recognition, listed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register
- Efforts to enhance understanding of site result in public affirmation
- Spectacular mountain and sandstone canyons feature 450 historically significant carved inscriptions
National program identifies 165 native plants for afforestation efforts in Asir
- The survey is part of broader plans focused on restoring degraded land, using native vegetation
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s National Afforestation Program has identified more than 165 species of native plants suitable for afforestation in the Asir region, highlighting the ecological diversity of one of the Kingdom’s most environmentally varied areas, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The findings form part of broader national efforts to expand vegetation cover, address land degradation, and support sustainability goals linked to the Saudi Green Initiative and Vision 2030.
According to the program, the identified species are distributed across a wide range of natural environments in Asir, including mountainous terrain, highlands, slopes, valleys, plains, rocky landscapes, and coastal areas stretching from the Red Sea to Tihama.
The species belong to numerous plant families, including Fabaceae, Anacardiaceae, Burseraceae, Capparaceae, Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, Myrtaceae, Oleaceae, and Primulaceae, among others.
Plants suitable for afforestation range from large and small trees to perennial and annual shrubs, herbs, succulents, bulbs, and climbing plants.
Among the most notable species identified are the grey mangrove, mastic tree, mooring or ben tree, juniper, sycamore fig, wild olive, henna, wild jasmine, hawthorn, and arak.
The Saudi Arabian Botanical Society described the announcement as an important step in protecting plant diversity and strengthening the ecosystem conservation in the Kingdom.
Munirah bin Hamad Al-Hazani, founder and president of the society, said that prioritizing native species is central to sustainable afforestation.
“Focusing on the cultivation of native plants adapted to diverse environments forms the cornerstone of sustainable afforestation projects, as it plays a pivotal role in enhancing vegetation cover, combating land degradation, and conserving natural and financial resources,” she told Arab News.
Al-Hazani added that long-term success depends on cooperation between government bodies and the nonprofit sector, alongside community involvement and environmental awareness programs.
The National Afforestation Program has increasingly emphasized community participation, working with government agencies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations to support planting initiatives and environmental education. Its approach includes promoting volunteerism and discouraging harmful environmental practices, while focusing on the use of native plants adapted to local conditions.
Parallel efforts are underway in other regions of the Kingdom to support vegetation restoration through research and infrastructure development. In Jouf, often referred to as the Kingdom’s food basket, the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority has established a Central Nursery and a Wild Seeds Research and Production Station to address the growing demand for reliable sources of native seeds and seedlings.
The project was launched in 2023 under the directive of Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the minister of interior and chairman of the authority’s board of directors.
Since then, the facilities has become a key component of vegetation restoration efforts within the reserve.
The authority has focused on building operational capacity by recruiting and training specialists to manage cultivation and research activities. The research and production station includes 14 mother-seed production fields containing over 400,000 trees and shrubs.
Planting began in late 2024, with more than 30 native plant species represented, selected for their role in the reserve’s natural ecosystem.
The facility also includes two seed storage units with a combined capacity of 3,000 kilograms. Seeds are collected annually from multiple sites within the reserve and used for seedling production habitat rehabilitation.
The Central Nursery spans 6,000 square meters and includes 30 greenhouses spanning 1,500 square meters, as well as two shade houses used during summer months. A plant hardening facility, designed to prepare seedlings for natural environmental conditions, covers 10,000 square meters and is divided into seven sections. The nursery’s annual production capacity reaches 1.5 million seedlings, representing more than 15 native plant species.
Together, these initiatives underscore the growing role of native plant research and propagation in Saudi Arabia’s afforestation strategy, particularly as the Kingdom works to balance environmental restoration with long-term sustainability goals.
