Saudi forestation center surveys more than 112,000 hectares for forest inventory 

Volunteers take part in tree planting activities in Riyadh's al-Uraja neighborhood. (SPA/File)
Short Url
Updated 09 February 2024
Follow

Saudi forestation center surveys more than 112,000 hectares for forest inventory 

RIYADH: The National Center for Vegetation Development and Combating Desertification, with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization, has begun implementing a national forest inventory project in the Al-Baha region.

This project aims to map, measure and monitor all forests in the region, as well as to discuss an action plan and engage stakeholders in goal-setting.

National teams have successfully surveyed 112,504.60 hectares to determine the forest cover area in Saudi Arabia, identify tree species, dominance and density per hectare in different environmental regions in the Kingdom, and establish a forest resource database to enable obtaining the required information following international agreements with the World Forest Inventory, the World Forest Forum, the Convention on Climate Change (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention to Combat Desertification.

This step marks the first stage of implementing the forest inventory project in eight regions across the Kingdom to study their conditions accurately, identify plant species, density and condition, and ultimately develop vegetation cover, combat pests and invasive species, and contribute to carbon storage to address climate change.


Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom

Updated 11 min 46 sec ago
Follow

Saudi, Pakistan defense chiefs discuss ‘measures needed to halt’ Iranian attacks on Kingdom

RIYADH: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman and Pakistan’s  Chief of Defense Forces Asim Munir discussed Iran’s attacks on the Kingdom, amid the escalating military conflict in the Middle East. 

“We discussed Iranian attacks on the Kingdom and the measures needed to halt them within the framework of our Joint Strategic Defense Agreement,” Prince Khalid wrote on social media early on Saturday.

“We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.”

The US and Israel began a large-scale military campaign against Iran on Feb. 28. Iran has since attacked a number of sites across the Gulf.

Tehran has also attacked US and Israeli military assets as the war as escalated, impacting lives in the peaceful Arabian Gulf peninsula and risked shaking the global economy as Iran continued restricting energy shipping along the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said a number of drones had been shot down that were targeting the Shayba oil field in the Empty Quarter on Saturday.

A drone attacked the US embassy in Riyadh on Tuesday causing a minor fire, but no one was hurt in the incident.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a “Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement”  in September, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both.

Separately, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, the Saudi interior minister, received a call from his Pakistani counterpart Raza Naqvi, who condemned the blatant attacks targeting the Kingdom and affirmed his country’s solidarity in confronting any threats to the Kingdom’s security and stability, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.