HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani planted a Sidra tree to mark the inauguration of the Children's Museum "Dadu" garden project of Qatar Museums. HH the Amir planted the 600,000th tree as part of the initiative to plant a million trees to reflect HH the Amir's sponsorship of these initiatives, which aim to create an environment that preserves Qatari and Arab values and instills in children the spirit of originality, patience, and giving.
HH the Amirs patronage of the initiative to plant a million trees constituted a motivation for all individuals and institutions to participate in this project that was inaugurated on the sidelines of Qatars first International Environmental Exhibition (EnviroteQ) and the seventh edition of Qatar International Agricultural Exhibition (AgriteQ2019) as part of Qatars efforts to maintain a healthy environment through improving air quality, increasing green spaces, and their implications for human health and the quality of life.
The inauguration of the "Dadu" garden project, one of the major landmarks of the Children Museum of Qatar, is seen as a significant sign of Qatars vision that focuses on a greener and more sustainable future. This vision shaped the foundation of the active and influential roles that the State of Qatar has been playing in international efforts to combat climate change. In addition, Qatar is heartily committed to sustainability as the national campaign to plant 10 million trees is still ongoing, as well as the preparations to host "the most environmentally friendly" tournament throughout the history of the World Cup.
The State of Qatars interest in environmental development and preservation stems from the fact that it constitutes one of the main pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which made Qatar strengthens its numerous initiatives by launching its National Climate Change Action Plan 2030.
The project of planting one million trees is set to be completed before FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as the initiative aims to promote Qatars role in Paris Agreement related to climate change. The initiative came as a contribution from the Climate Change department at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, as beautification receives a great attention from the state.
Beautification in desert climate countries is not an easy task, as sustaining a perfect climate for trees to grow and ensure their durability is a laborious job. Many questions often arise from members of society on the slow process of afforestation as well as picking certain areas and streets rather than others. The afforestation process requires certain elements to guarantee its persistence, on top of which comes the availability of water, which the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is keen to provide its new street projects with treated water networks. For its part, Ashghal tries to speed up the process of providing the projects with irrigation networks so that the beautification authority can proceed with afforestation works.
Local trees such as Ghaf, Sidr, and low-water trees are the first choice during afforestation works to tackle the issue of water scarcity. The Ministry of Municipality is keen on using the best irrigation networks in the Gulf region, which provide the plants' needs without any water waste. Through a centralized control room at Public Parks Department, all parks and streets are irrigated, in addition to following some programs that allow reducing the used amount of water without affecting the growth of plants.
The Ministry of Municipality focuses on planting shade trees in parks to reduce carbon emissions and increase oxygen levels in the air. The ministry also maintains the diversification of the trees planted.
Among the achievements made by the One Million Trees initiative was the announcement made by the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar of achieving a new Guinness World Record title for Most Nationalities Planting Trees Simultaneously, adding this achievement to the list of world records achieved in Qatar.
Official Adjudicators at Guinness World Records, Alan Pixsley and Louise Toms, stated that the total number of nationalities that participated during the tree-planting event is 66, during a tree-planting event organized by the committee on Saturday 9 October 2021 on Dukhan Road. The event is part of the "Qatar Beautification and Our Kids Planting Trees" campaign to "Plant Million Trees", launched in 2019 in coordination with the Ministry of Municipality.
Participants from each nationality planted one tree for five continuous minutes, following specific steps that were documented by cameras installed on site in order to evaluate the planting process and its compliance with the guidelines of Guinness World Records. (QNA)