Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser bin Ahmed bin Ali Al Thani participating in the event of releasing birds in Barouq Reserve, yesterday.
The State of Qatar celebrates Qatar Environment Day on February 26 under the slogan “Our environment is a trust” to emphasize the importance of concerted community, official and civil efforts to preserve Qatar’s environment, maintain all its elements, and make it safe, sound and healthy for current and future generations.
The State of Qatar has been celebrating this national environmental occasion since 1996, under a specific slogan that serves a specific environmental issue, to remind and draw attention to the fact that protecting the homeland’s environment is everyone’s responsibility, especially since the issue of the environment has become a global issue in all its dimensions without exception, receiving international attention through holding summits, conferences and meetings to find effective and innovative solutions to all its challenges.
Not only celebrating this annual celebration, the State of Qatar launched many initiatives including planting one million trees, which was launched in 2019 with a QR 1 billion budget to support international efforts in confronting climate change and promoting environmental sustainability.
Also, Qatar pledged to hold a carbon-neutral FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and observe international standards in the field of environmental conservation by adopting a level of sustainability for stadiums according to different categories, including design, construction, energy, and water use.
In the environment pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030, the State of Qatar has implemented a balance between “development needs” and “environmental protection” by creating effective and advanced environmental institutions that work to provide and enhance public awareness about environmental protection issues and encourage the use of environmentally sound technologies.
The Qatar Environment Day activities aim to increase environmental awareness among the public, enhance knowledge, skills, trends, and values associated with the safety and recovery of Qatar’s environment. They also seek to develop entrepreneurship and the environmental sense among citizens and residents, groups, and individuals and encourage participation in various activities. The activities target enhancing the role of public and private institutions and bodies in the field of environmental protection.
There is no doubt that the successes achieved by the celebration of Qatar Environment Day over the past years have greatly contributed to increasing community environmental awareness through the widespread participation in the events, which reflects the extent of care and attention given to the Qatari environment by the wise leadership, to protect various its components from waste, deterioration, harmful negative practices, and pollution in all its forms.
Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Eng. Hassan Jumaa Bu Jamhour Al Mohannadi said that the slogan for the celebration of Qatar Environment Day for this year, “Our environment is a trust,” reflects the excellence of the biodiversity in Qatar, which unites the sea, land, heritage, and natural resources, noting that the ministry seeks to protect this diversity by preparing a database to preserve the environment and achieve a balance between environmental, social and human development to ensure a sustainable future.
The negative practices with the environment, and tampering with its components anywhere, is a rejected behaviour by the local and international community, Al Mohannadi said, adding that teachings and values of the Islamic religion reject these practices as they threaten resources, spoil the environment, drain its resources, and deprive successive generations of maximum benefit from the environment. He pointed out that every citizen and resident should play and play in protecting the environment with a sense of responsibility and obligation to live in a clean environment free from pollution, diseases, and environmental risks.
He also noted that the 2022 Qatar Environment Day celebration is distinguished with the high-level interest and participation from state institutions, private sector companies, NGOs, and civil society, explaining that the celebration activities will continue for several days, which started Thursday in the Sealine area with the participation of HE Minister of Environment and Climate Change Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser bin Ahmed bin Ali Al-Thani and the owners of the camps in the region. The activities included the launch of a group of Rhim gazelles in the Sealine Nature Reserve, in addition to organizing campaigns for hygiene and agriculture in cooperation with the Qatar Scouts and Guides Association.
On Saturday, the activities at the Brouq Nature Reserve will include campaigns for cultivation and hygiene, and the release of a type of birds, Al Mohannadi said. He added that on Monday, the activities will be held at Bin Ghannam Island and will include releasing fish in the forest and conducting eco-introductory tours inside the forest, in addition to other awareness-raising activities within the framework of a festive program for children.
Within the framework of the Qatar National Strategy for Environment and Climate Change, which was launched in October, the country is interested in eco-tourism through the expansion of the establishment of natural reserves, gardens, and green spaces, as well as interest in animal and plant wildlife and other projects of eco-tourism attractions.
In a statement to QNA, Assistant Undersecretary for Environmental Affairs of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Eng. Hassan Jumaa Bu Jamhour Al Mohannadi said the ministry’s focus this year will be on eco-tourism, because it is part of Qatar’s National Strategy for the Environment and Climate Change, adding the ministry released deer and Arabian Oryx in the reserves, organizes tours, and works to preserve and develop the eco-tourism places.
Regarding his assessment of the environmental situation in the State of Qatar, Al Mohannadi described the situation as “excellent,” explaining that this approach will be continued further during the next stage, as part of the Qatar National Strategy for Environment and Climate Change, which receives the utmost care, attention, and follow-up from the state.
The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change constantly stressed the need to pay attention to biodiversity and its sustainability in the Qatari environment and encouraged agriculture and land reclamation. In this regard, the initiative to plant one million trees was announced in March 2019 during the 7th Qatar International Agricultural Exhibition and the first Qatar International Environmental Exhibition. The aim is to support international efforts to confront climate change and enhance environmental sustainability, as well as the sustainability of water resources, use of treated water for irrigation, and reduce waste of water resources, in addition to promoting biodiversity and protecting biodiversity, improving air quality, increasing the green area, and reducing gas emissions.
Moreover, the growing interest in Qatars environment includes the continuation of the implementation of various projects related to the environmental sector, including the development and creation of monitoring devices, the development of national capacities and the work system, the increase in the number of nature reserves, the conservation of the plant environment and endangered species and plants, and the fulfillment of treaty obligations of the various international and regional environmental projects signed and ratified by the State of Qatar, and other projects aimed at maintaining the ecological balance, given that any defect caused by it would deplete some other components of the environment.
The responsibility to protect “Our environment is a trust” is a collective and societal responsibility, as all citizens, residents, individuals, and institutions affect and are affected by the environment, hence the slogan of this years celebration of Qatar Environment Day “Our environment is a trust” aim to reflect all these contents and interests and Qatars growing efforts to protect its environment.
The Qatar Environment Day underscores the importance of protecting the environment with all its components and natural resources, especially as Qatar National Vision 2030 has adopted environmental sustainability as one of its four pillars to achieve sustainable development in the country.
All these efforts and achievements undoubtedly confirm the great care that the State of Qatar attaches to the issue of the environment, especially as it occupies a prominent international position in the field of environmental preservation in cooperation with the international community and relevant and specialized international organizations, as Qatar has previously hosted several conferences of the parties in this regard.
