Prince Misha'l Bin Majed, Governor of Makkah, will inaugurate a Tree Week here on Monday under the theme “Firewood collection threatens trees on the shores of Jeddah's Corniche.” The opening will be in the first of its kind educational city built by Jeddah municipality. “Several government and private sectors will participate in the opening of the educational village. A number of events and lectures have also been planned for students at different levels,” said Bahjat Tala't Hamouda, Director General of the general administration of parks, forestry, and municipal utilities in Jeddah. More than 40 schools will participate in the opening of the educational village. “Several visits will be arranged to the educational villages during the five days of the Tree Week,” Hamouda said. According to Hamouda, the green space currently available in the city is less than 7.4 million square meters, and in order to meet global standards, Jeddah will have to provide an additional five square meters of green space for each of the city's residents. Hamouda asked the community as well as the public and private sectors to intensify their efforts to make Tree Week a success, as it is of the utmost importance in raising awareness of the importance of the expansion of green areas in the city. “Global statistics indicate that we need to plant 17 trees for each car in the city, as one car is equal to seventeen trees in offsetting the environmental damage resulting from car exhausts,” said Hamouda. “The Tree Week includes educational programs on modern methods of irrigation, a program on how well to decorate the gardens, and many other ideas to raise the level of awareness among the people on the importance of trees,” said Asma'a Abou-Ghaleb, supervisor of the organizer committee.
