Forests in Saudi Arabia

Forests in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are a plant cluster consisting of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, either in a pure or mixed state, with a tree density of 10 percent of the vegetation cover, whether this cluster is natural or cultivated. Forests in Saudi Arabia include approximately one hundred plant species.

Area of forests in Saudi Arabia

Several provinces in Saudi Arabia contain forests of varying densities. Forests cover approximately two million ha of Saudi Arabia's land area. Most of these forests are located in the southern and southwestern parts of Saudi Arabia along the Sarawat Mountains. These forests depend on seasonal rainfall. The most common trees growing there are juniper (Juniperus) and acacia.

Plants in Saudi Arabia's forests

Forests in Saudi Arabia contain approximately one hundred plant species, including around 2,500 shrub and herb species. These plants are well adapted to the region’s diverse environmental conditions, such as drought, high temperatures, and cold. Among the most common plants in the forests of southwestern Saudi Arabia are juniper trees, with their needle-like leaves, which constitute approximately 60 percent of the total vegetation cover and forest area in Saudi Arabia.

Types of forests in Saudi Arabia

Based on environmental diversity, forests in Saudi Arabia are classified into several types, including: mountain forests, semi-warm region forests, lowlands and pastoral valleys forests, and mangrove forests.

• Mountain forests: These are highland forests that depend on rainfall, with annual precipitation ranging from 250-450 mm. They are divided into mountain forests reaching elevations of about two thousand m above sea level, such as juniper forests, medium-altitude mountain forests between 1,500 and two thousand m, and low-altitude mountain forests between one thousand and 1,500 m, such as acacia and myroxylon forests. The total area of mountain forests in Saudi Arabia is approximately 977,000 ha.
• Semi-warm region forests: These forests are located in the western part of the Sarawat Mountain Range, in the Tihama Mountains, as well as in valleys and on slopes. Their total area is 130,000 ha. Among the plants that grow there are umbrella thorn acacia (Vachellia tortilis), Vachellia flava (Acacia ehrenbergiana), atil (maerua crassifolia), Christ's thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi), Hyphaene, and toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica).
• Lowlands and pastoral valleys forests: These forests form alongside lowlands and pastoral valleys, covering a total area of approximately nine hundred thousand ha. They include several types of trees and shrubs, such as acacia, Christ's thorn jujube, tamarisk, toothbrush tree, Arabian boxthorn (Lycium shawii, Solanaceae), and Haloxylon ammodendron.
• Mangrove forests: These forests are found along the coasts of the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, covering an area of between three thousand and six thousand ha. Among the most important plants growing in them are mangroves. These forests contribute to the sustainability of the marine and coastal ecosystem, in addition to their important role in the reproduction of several species of fish.

Significance of forests in Saudi Arabia

Forests in Saudi Arabia play a vital role in the economic, social, environmental, and cultural spheres. They are a source of water and contribute to reducing erosion and flooding. They also produce wood for construction, furniture, agricultural tools, and firewood. Forests support the formation of pastures, offer shelter for numerous wild animals, and serve as habitats for wildlife. They are also suitable pastures for bees, which contributes to the production of high-quality honey. They are a source of medicinal and aromatic plants. Additionally, they help produce oxygen, mitigate pollution, and act as attractions for tourism and recreational activities.

Conservation of forests in Saudi Arabia

Forests in Saudi Arabia face challenges from human activities that negatively impact them, including cutting and logging, urban expansion, overgrazing, fires, high visitor numbers, harmful behaviors affecting the environment and vegetation cover, and mining activities such as stone crushers.

Saudi Arabia has prioritized the conservation and development of forests through decisions and directives that include: establishing a specialized committee to prepare land use maps, with the primary goal of limiting encroachment on pasture and forest lands; providing capacity building programs for workers in forestry, afforestation, and parks; implementing diverse community education programs to raise awareness of the importance of forests, afforestation projects, and their conservation; and supporting accurate research and studies in the field of forestry.

Protecting and monitoring forests in Saudi Arabia

As part of a project covering the southern and southwestern provinces of Saudi Arabia, the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification (NCVC) has launched forest and park protection and monitoring patrols in Aseer Province. The patrols, numbering more than one hundred, cover five locations in the province. In addition, five drones are being used to monitor and detect encroachments and violations on vegetation, apprehend perpetrators, and take appropriate action under the Executive Regulations for the Environmental Law.

Efforts to develop forests in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), in cooperation with other entities, works to develop and sustain forests. This includes preparing implementing regulations for the Forest and Pasture Law, adopting the National Forest Action Plan and its strategy, conducting and completing ecological, economic and social studies, fencing and identifying forests, rehabilitating degraded sites, maintaining afforestation projects and green belts, constructing and equipping national parks, focusing on scientific research, training and equipping personnel, raising public awareness through campaigns and camps, and participating in and cooperating with regional and international organizations concerned with forests and the environment.

The Technical Cooperation Programme between MEWA and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Saudi Arabia has also presented two projects in the field of forestry. These projects aim to provide technical support for natural resource management, enhance technical capabilities, train specialists, develop technologies, and propagate local plants such as juniper, acacia, Christ's thorn jujube, and wild olive trees. The projects also aim to rehabilitate degraded forests and abandoned agricultural terraces by relying on modern technologies, drawing on geographic information systems, collecting and processing data, and enhancing awareness and guidance.

Among Saudi Arabia's environmental protection initiatives is the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI), announced in March 2021 by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for SGI. The initiative's environmental protection objectives include reducing carbon emissions by approximately 278 million t annually, planting ten thousand trees across Saudi Arabia, and protecting marine and terrestrial areas by increasing protected areas to approximately 30 percent of the total land and marine areas.

Regulations of NCVC

NCVC has established a set of forest-related regulations based on a national plan for sustainable forest management and the development, rehabilitation, and preservation of protected forests. These regulations include prohibiting grazing in protected forests, degraded forests, planted forests, and forests selected by NCVC for development or research purposes, as well as prohibiting any activity in burned forests without a permit from NCVC.

Strategic Forest Plan in Saudi Arabia

The Strategic Forestry Plan in Saudi Arabia is a project under the National Transformation Program and one of the important initiatives of NCVC, aimed at achieving the goals of SGI.

The Strategic Forest Plan in Saudi Arabia is based on six main pillars, which address the following: The Forest Implementation Plan, the Institutional Framework and Forest Governance, the Forest Conservation and Rehabilitation Program, the Forest Monitoring and Assessment Program, the Community Participation Program, and Financing Mechanisms.