Doha: The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change launched the National Strategy to Combat Desertification 2025-2030, as part of Qatar’s efforts to protect its natural resources, enhance sustainability, and mitigate land degradation and drought impacts, aligning with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Third National Development Strategy 2024-2030.
According to Qatar News Agency, the strategy aims to establish a comprehensive national framework to combat desertification and achieve land degradation neutrality by improving the efficiency of natural resource management and strengthening supportive legislation and policies, contributing to ecosystem protection and sustainable development.
In his remarks during the launch ceremony, HE Minister of Environment and Climate Change Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie stated that desertification and natural resource depletion pose escalating environmental challenges requiring collective efforts both locally and globally. He emphasized that the national strategy launch reflects Qatar’s commitment to environmental protection and international obligations, particularly under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
His Excellency explained that the strategy is based on advanced scientific and technical foundations and aims to enhance Qatar’s capacity to address drought and desertification effects, protect vegetation cover, and ensure biodiversity sustainability, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goal 15: Life on Land.
He added that the strategy encompasses six key outcomes, including protecting ecosystems, reducing desertification and drought factors, promoting sustainable natural resource management, strengthening vegetation cover, rehabilitating affected environments, building capacity, supporting scientific research and innovation, developing legislation and policies, and enhancing community participation and partnerships.
HE the Minister noted that these pillars form the foundation for the programs and projects the ministry will implement in partnership with national and international entities and local communities.
He added that the ministry, as the national focal point for the UNCCD, coordinated efforts with relevant stakeholders in the public and private sectors and civil society institutions to prepare the strategy, which includes practical programs and projects such as terrestrial environment rehabilitation, native plant species cultivation, local species nursery establishment, and updating natural resource use legislation.
HE the Minister of Environment and Climate Change added that the ministry is leading the strategy’s implementation in cooperation with concerned entities through an integrated institutional and operational framework that includes regular monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, clear identification of responsibilities and authorities, and provision of necessary human, technical, and financial resources. He further noted the activation of modern technological tools for monitoring and management to ensure effective and sustainable execution of all programs and projects.
His Excellency called for greater collaboration among national sectors to ensure effective strategy implementation and achieve its objectives in addressing desertification, protecting the environment, and ensuring sustainability for future generations.
The Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Protection and Natural Reserves Affairs Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Latif Al Muslimani said that the strategy’s launch is part of the ministry’s efforts to establish an integrated national approach to address desertification and related environmental challenges.
He explained that the strategy represents a comprehensive framework promoting ecosystem protection, rehabilitation of affected environments, vegetation cover development and sustainability, and strengthening of natural resource management.
He stressed the importance of raising environmental awareness across society, developing training programs and institutional capacity-building, and promoting scientific research and innovation in sustainable land management.
Dr. Al Muslimani pointed out that the strategy preparation responded to Qatar’s environmental challenges, including natural resource scarcity, fragile vegetation cover, and sand dune encroachment. He affirmed that these challenges require strengthening national and international partnerships and expertise exchange to ensure natural resource sustainability and environmental protection for future generations.
In the same context, Adel Mohammed Al Yafei, Head of the Plant Wildlife Section at the Wildlife Development Department, said that the National Strategy to Combat Desertification, the first of its kind at the national level, marks a milestone in the ministry’s achievements. He explained that the strategy seeks to develop early warning and environmental monitoring systems, stabilize sand dunes, mitigate climate change effects, and promote balanced management of water, soil, and mineral resources.
He added that the strategy includes projects to rehabilitate affected ecosystems, improve agricultural land use efficiency, and enhance research and innovation through smart agriculture technologies and artificial intelligence applications in natural resource management, as well as promoting applied studies related to desertification combat.
Al Yafei noted that the Wildlife Development Department continues implementing national programs to combat desertification through integrated policies aimed at rehabilitating degraded rangelands, cultivating native plant species, expanding national nurseries to propagate and preserve local flora, and enforcing ministerial decisions to curb overgrazing and combat invasive plant species threatening local ecosystems.
He concluded by affirming that the Department is committed to applying clear measures to protect vegetation cover and wildlife within development projects at all implementation stages, strengthening environmental balance and supporting national efforts to combat desertification and land degradation.
The launch ceremony was attended by HE Minister of Municipality Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiyah, HE Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Mahmoud, and HE President of the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) Eng. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Meer, along with assistant undersecretaries, senior officials from environmental, academic, and research sectors, and representatives of national institutions and the private sector.