Saudi Arabia joins the world in celebrating World Environment Day every year on the 5th of June. This day was first observed in 1974 and became a global platform for raising awareness on the importance of preserving nature and reducing global warming and desertification.
Each year, the United Nations chooses a country to be the global host for this day, and this year's host country is Pakistan. This World Environment Day is focused on ecosystem restoration and its theme is “Reimagine. Recreate. Restore.”
Great efforts are being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to restore ecosystems by launching several campaigns and initiatives such as Let's Make It Green and Green Saudi and Green Middle East initiatives which will contribute to enhancing biodiversity, combating climate change, reducing carbon emissions, and improving the quality of life.
Saudi Arabia is characterized by diverse ecosystems, such as forests, agricultural lands, wetlands, deserts, seas, coasts, mountains, and much more. There are about 67 geological formations in the Kingdom with various biodiversity. It is also distinguished by its plant diversity, as it includes nearly 2,247 species of the wild plant group. There are also about 86 species of mammals, 28 species of bats, 22 species of rodent, 12 species of carnivores, and one type of primates (baboons), in addition to 4 species of angulates, including the Arabian oryx, which is the only type of oryxes present in the kingdom, while sixteen species of marine mammals have been recorded in the Saudi territorial waters in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf.
499 bird species, of which 225 species are endemic, while 107 species of reptiles and 7 amphibian species were also recorded. And as nearly 1280 species of fish were recorded in the Red Sea waters, while about 542 species in the Arabian Gulf. Coral reefs are one of the most important marine ecosystems in Saudi Arabia, as coral areas span an estimated 6,660 square kilometers. There are about 270 species of hard corals and 40 species of soft corals in the Red Sea, and 60 species of hard corals in the Arabian Gulf.
The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture focuses on the goals of these global days aimed at protecting the environment and preserving nature, by supporting the environment sector in the Kingdom in line with the Saudi Vision 2030. And the Environment sector has recently achieved several achievements, most notably the preparation and adoption of the National Environment Strategy, and the preparation and adoption of the new Environment Law, launch of global environmental initiatives under the Saudi G20 Presidency. In addition to declaring the Saudi Environment Week, and the transformation in the institutional frameworks of the environment sector to ensure better implementation and sustainability by establishing five specialized environmental centers and the Environmental Fund to support the financial sustainability of the sector and enhance the protection of vegetation cover in pastures and forests, as well as the rehabilitation and development of national parks.
Regarding environmental sustainability, the ministry succeeds in preparing environmental studies and plans to review oil pollution control and rehabilitate the affected areas. And Saudi Arabia was nominated to chair the Executive Committee of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and a draft cooperation agreement in the field of environmental protection and pollution reduction was signed between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in addition to Saudi Arabia's accession to the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
On the ground, the ministry’s efforts have contributed to increasing the inspection tours to reach 75% of the total targeted establishments, which is about 21 thousand, to ensure its compliance with environmental controls and standards. And to developing an environmental standard for the establishment of reception facilities services centers to ships. This will enable the construction of these facilities, which are a prerequisite for enabling the declaration of the Red Sea as a special environmental area, which will contribute to supporting new vital national projects to help achieve the Saudi Vision 2030.