Qatar tree plantation gets Guinness record

The Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads & Public Places in Qatar has achieved a new Guinness World Records title for Most Nationalities Planting Trees Simultaneously, adding this accomplishment to a list of world records in Qatar. Official adjudicators at Guinness World Records, Alan Pixsley and Louise Toms, said a total of 66 nationalities participated in the tree-planting event organised by the committee on October 9 on Dukhan Road.The event was held as part of the 'Qatar Beautification and Our Kids Planting Trees' campaign to 'Plant Million Trees', launched in 2019 in co-ordination with the Ministry of Municipality, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) said in a statement Saturday.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.

Official adjudicator Louise Toms

On this occasion, Mohamed Arqoub al-Khaldi, chairman of the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar, said achieving this global title "confirms our commitment to contribute to protecting the environment in line with our country’s efforts in the field of development and environmental sustainability, as part of the fourth pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030."

Official adjudicator Alan Pixsley

Al-Khaldi added that the committee launched the 'Qatar Beautification and Our Kids Planting Trees' campaign to 'Plant Million Trees', in co-operation with the Ministry of Municipality, to contribute to increasing green spaces and trees in the country and provide fresh air for the desert areas along roads. The campaign is considered as a mainstay of educating individuals and students on the importance of tree-planting and instilling environmental values in them. More than 550,000 trees have been planted until now. Those who participated in the tree-planting event hailed from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Côte D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the UK, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.* 'Qatar Beautification and Our Kids Planting Trees' campaign to 'Plant Million Trees'The Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads & Public Places in Qatar launched the campaign on September 28, 2019, in co-operation with the Ministry of Municipality. The campaign is in line with the efforts of Qatar for development and environmental sustainability within the fourth pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030 that aims at achieving harmony and integration between economic and social development, protection and preservation of the environment for future generations.The campaign aims to involve kids of Qatar and residents in planting 1mn trees across the country, primarily to emphasise that protection and preservation of the environment is everyone’s social responsibility. The initiative also aims to increase green areas in the country, improve quality of life at large through environment protection, and improve air quality through minimising carbon emissions and its negative impacts on climate change. It will also explore best utilisation of treated water resource for irrigation, besides improving the general outlook of Qatar.Since its launch, many governmental and private entities of Qatar have been active in the campaign. Participation of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education is worthwhile as many school students from different levels of education have involved in planting trees in many places and project sites, educating students about the importance of planting trees, nurturing environmental values in them and encouraging them to volunteer for preserving the environment of Qatar.The campaign welcomes participation of all members of society across all age groups, all public private entities, institutions, youth centres and others.