Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia and the Municipality of Riyadh launched a tree planting campaign to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia, which falls in the year 2024.
The event which was held at Al Darseena Park in Riyadh coincides with the 16th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (COP16), which is being hosted by Saudi Arabia in Riyadh from 02 to 13 December 2024, under the theme “Our Land. Our Future.”
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Omar Lebbe Ameer Ajwad together with the members of Sri Lanka delegation to COP 16: Nilmini Wickramaarachchi and Himali De Costa of the Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka and Dulanji Herath of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka, planted trees in the park. A large number of participants including staff of the Embassy, leaders and members of the Sri Lankan community in Riyadh, the Principal and children of the Sri Lanka International School in Riyadh as well as senior officials of Riyadh Municipality participated in the event and planted a variety of plants. The participants also engaged in cleaning up of the park.
While extending sincere appreciation to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh for launching the initiative, the Director of Volunteer Services of the Riyadh Municipality, Ghada binth Abdullah Al-Omran pointed out that such a tree planting initiative spearheaded by the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh was the first ever of its kind and thanked the Sri Lankan community in Riyadh for their active participation in the event.
Addressing the gathering, Ambassador Ameer Ajwad highlighted that Embassy of Sri Lanka in Riyadh initiated the tree planting campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries while the programme also aligns with the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) that targets planting 10 billion trees under the kingdom’s “Vision 2030”. Further, he pointed out that the event adds value to the commemoration as it is in line with the largest UN land conference, UNCCD COP 16 that aims at combating land degradation, desertification, and drought. The Ambassador expressed his sincere appreciation to the Mayor of Riyadh region, Prince Dr. Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf for allocating venues for the programme and the excellent arrangements made by the Municipality in this regard.
Senior Director of Riyadh Municipality, Arif Al Sulami and his team have organized similar tree planting events in five prominent parks in the Riyadh Region.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Riyadh
10 December 2024
