JEDDAH, 9 April 2007 — Mayor of Jeddah Adel Fakieh has announced that the municipality is holding 15 activities to encourage the planting of trees and the preservation of parks and greenery. The activities are coinciding with the 30th Tree Week that is to take place next week.

Fakieh was speaking yesterday morning at his office during a preparatory meeting for the week. Various official bodies, including representatives from the police, the Traffic Department, the Red Crescent Society, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Culture and Information, also attended the meeting.

The mayor noted that the first event of the week would take place at the Al-Nawrus Roundabout in the Corniche area, where a tree would be planted to mark the start of the week.

The mayor added that the Ministry of Agriculture is providing trees and flowers and that the Ministry of Education is holding a special program at schools to encourage and teach pupils how to plant trees. He added that an award would also be handed to the greenest school.

Fakieh said that within the coming three months, the municipality will study how many trees are there in the city and how many more are needed in order to make the city greener.