RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's National Transformation Program (NTP) has contributed in increasing the area of rehabilitated natural vegetation cover to more than 93,000 hectares by the end of 2022, Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Mansour Al-Mushaiti said. Eng. Al-Mushaiti made the remarks during the National Transformation Forum, as he added that the NTP has increased the percentage of wild and registered protected areas out of the total area of Saudi Arabia, to 16.8%, by the end of 2022. The program also contributed to raising the accuracy of forecasting and early warning of weather hazards 3 days earlier, to 76,9%. He said that the objectives of Vision 2030, through the strategic goals of NTP, have made major transformational shifts in all sectors of the environment, water and agriculture system. The most notable change is limiting pollution of all kinds, protecting the environment from natural hazards, in addition to ensuring sustainable use of water resources. Speaking of water resources, Eng. Al-Mushaiti said that the water sector in Saudi Arabia faces challenges, such as the increasing demand for water currently and in the future, and the limited natural water resources in the Kingdom. He stressed that the Ministry has worked hard to face the challenges by developing a national water strategy in accordance with Vision 2030. The strategy includes several strategic goals, programs and initiatives that would strengthen the management of water resources, in addition to organizing and raising the quality of water services for all beneficiary sectors.
