Saudi Arabia's National Afforestation Programme will soon launch an electronic platform to monitor projects interactively and provide accurate, real-time reports to officials and stakeholders, Al-Eqtisadiah reported on March 27.

Ahmed Al-Anazi, director-general of the programme, told the publication that the platform would enhance transparency, improve communication and ensure planned objectives are achieved.

The programme aims to plant 10bn trees and rehabilitate 40mn hectares of degraded land, Al-Anazi confirmed. "The target is not only to protect the environment but to enhance quality of life and diversify the economy," he added.

Saudi Arabia launched the National Afforestation Programme in line with Vision 2030 and the Saudi Green Initiative ambitions, marking a turning point in environmental sustainability.

The programme has planted more than 137mn trees to date and rehabilitated over 310,000 hectares of degraded land. It has also protected more than 4.4m hectares of land to ensure the sustainability and rehabilitation of vegetation cover.

"These figures reflect tremendous field efforts and widespread project deployment across various regions, focusing on planting local trees and plants suitable for each environment," Al-Anazi said.

More than 205 entities have participated in achieving these results, including 110 government agencies, 75 private sector organisations and 20 non-profit organisations.

The programme has established over 65 afforestation offices distributed between government and private entities, which has significantly enhanced implementation capabilities and ensured precise monitoring and high quality of field operations.

Abdullah Al-Talasat, director-general of Protected Areas at the National Wildlife Development Centre, told Al-Eqtisadiah that the centre has drawn up a national roadmap extending to 2030 that includes protecting more than 50,000 sq km of marine areas and more than 230,000 sq km of land.

Saudi Arabia currently has 36 terrestrial and marine protected areas, covering more than 361,145 sq km of land (18.1% of land area) and more than 14,382 sq km of marine areas (6.5% of the kingdom's waters).