Strategy and National Forestry Plan in Saudi Arabia (2005 – 2025).

This sectoral document represents the legal framework to establish and develop the activities related to the forestry protection in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, especially given the scarcity of resources. It consists of two parts, the Strategy and the National Forestry Plan.
Main objectives of this Strategy are: identify and protect the forests to preserve them; introduce sustainable forest management systems; ensure forest resource renewal and increasing through natural reproduction and by reforestation; cut off deforestation for commercial purposes, removing only dead and diseased trees and those that have completed their life cycle; provide institutional support for forest management and stakeholders; combat the desertification and reduce its effects; support both agricultural plant and animal production; provide areas for hiking and domestic tourism; reduce pollution on industrial and residential areas; protect biodiversity and forest heritage. Procedures and methods to be followed for the enforcement of the Strategy are classified into: mandatory (institutional, constitute the legal framework relating to the Strategy), voluntary (concerning funds and economic measures to be taken to encourage the implementation of the Strategy) and complementary (aiming to encourage stakeholders to participate in the implementation of forest protection programs and participate in the work of afforestation to purify the environment and increase the greening and welfare of the people of the Kingdom).
The National Forestry Plan (Second Part, p.103) aims at establishing the practical, economic and social framework in order to realize, according to the Strategy, forests’ maintenance, management and development, provided that: official authorities committed to implement the strategy-oriented plan; all stakeholders to forests, from institutions to the population, are prepared to interact in its implementation; necessary budgets and trained personnel are provided; the acquisition of forest land shall be ensured. In the following pages of the document, different projects according to the Strategy objectives are listed and presented.