Doha: Qatar Chemical Company Ltd (Q-Chem) started this year’s ‘Tree Week Campaign’ on Thursday to encourage planting more trees around its plant premises in Mesaieed and maximise the reuse of treated water.
Saad Rashid Al Muhannadi, CEO, Q-Chem, and Yusuf Khalid Al Khulaifi, Director, Agriculture Affairs, Ministry of Municipality and Environment, inaugurated the programme.
The fourth annual campaign was co-organised with the Agriculture Department at the ministry which provided trees.
Other delegates from the Mesaieed Industrial City, the ministry, Q-Chem management, employees and contractors participated in planting 1,000 native trees at Q-Chem, near the administration building.
The initiative supports the ‘One Million Trees Campaign’ announced by the ministry during the COP18 conference in December 2012.
As part of its commitment to environmental protection and sustainability, Q-Chem took a decisive step towards planting hundreds of trees on its plant site to increase its green belt, maximise the reuse of treated water and use the trees as a natural barrier to the sand blown from the surrounding dunes.
The plantation zone, referred to as the green belt, was a desert land in 2009, but has been turned into the green area.
Q-Chem initiative contributes to building a natural wind-blown sand barrier and increases the reuse of treated water for irrigation
“The Q-Chem premises in Mesaieed Industrial City, which include Q-Chem and Q-Chem II plant facilities, succeeded in increasing the green belt in the previous campaign to meet and exceed 3.5 percent of total land.
“The green belt was 1.7 percent in 2009 and was doubled with an additional 33,000 square metres in 2010, Al Muhannadi said.
“Q-Chem companies are now able to reuse much more water for irrigation and increasing the number of planted trees from the native Qatari environment. Despite harsh conditions, 75 percent of the trees have been able to survive.”
Tree Week is an annual event, which started three years ago to increase the green belt. With 1,150 trees having been planted in the area in the past, the environment is most likely to change in the upcoming years.
“Q-Chem has always been enthusiastic about its sustainable development, while not only protecting our environment, but also enhancing it and its conditions for generations to come,” Al Muhannadi said.
The Peninsula
