RIYADH—The Philippine Embassy joined the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification’s (NCVC) “Let’s Make it Green” campaign by planting 200 trees at the Saad National Park in December 2022.
More than 50 personnel from the embassy and their dependents volunteered in the activity as part of its initiative to celebrate the 53rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and KSA, as well as the International Volunteer Day last month.
In his opening remarks, Chargé d’Affaires Rommel Romato emphasized the importance of cooperation between both nations in promoting environmental awareness and action: “The Filipino’s sense of volunteerism and commitment to environmental sustainability transcend our borders. Our dynamic [KSA-based Filipino community fully supports the ‘Saudi Green Initiative SGI]’ programs by undertaking clean-up drives and tree planting activities, among others.”
Representing the NCVC, International Relations and Strategic Partnership adviser Dr. Amal Al Daej highlighted the impact of the tree-planting activity as a contribution to the SGI, which aims “to plant 450 million trees by 2030, and with a long-term target of 10 billion trees. This initiative aims to reduce over 200 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.”
“Let’s Make it Green,” with its third edition launched on October 27, 2022, is a six-month campaign aimed at developing vegetation sites, rehabilitating degraded ones, and restoring biodiversity in natural environments. Previous installments led to the planting of around 20 million trees in more than 500 sites across KSA.