Qatar Plans Environment Program With Syria For Turning Deserts Green

The UAE Emirate state of Qatar is planning to launch an environmental program to turn desert areas into usable pasture lands and other green areas by findings ways such as desalination. They also plan on replenishing the country’s rapidly depleting ground water resources, and using scientific innovations for growing of grass and other plant life that will support animal herds such as sheep and goats.

In an agreement reached with the Damascus-based  Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zone and Dry Lands (ACSAD), Qatar hopes to integrate the growing of special plant life suitable for dry regions, along with the breeding of animals more suited for life in hot, arid regions.

Qatar is no stranger to being involved projects dealing with both the local and world environments. Its Stars of Science TV program is already beginning to feature new and innovative ideas to improve the environment such as a device to lower the internal temperature in a parked car during the summer, as well as ways to produce electricity from ocean waves. 

And like the carbon neutral Masdar City project being built in Abu Dhabi, Qatar is also planning a carbon neutral office building project of its own, called Energy City Qatar .

But the greening of the region’s vast desert areas may hold the most promise, as it will do much to improve the overall environment of a part of the world where daytime summer temperatures often soar to as much as 45 degrees centigrade.

Teaming up with the ACSAD organization will definitely  help the Qatar government to achieve its goals of reversing the desert  and even cooling down their part of the world; since it is a well known fact that the introduction of plants and even trees can reduce the day time temperature by as much as several degrees.  

ACSAD is more than just an organization set up to monitor and combat the problems of desertification. It is also a teaching aid to peoples living in arid regions of the Middle East, since it organizes training programs for  both agriculture field workers and technicians who will work with the indigenous populations of the areas they are assigned to in not only the Arab World, but beyond.

It also provides technical advice and assistance to countries like Qatar, and even helps to mobilize the role rural women  play in the agricultural development of their communities. 

Will Qatar succeed in its dream of making its countryside green with vegetation? Why not? As noted in a previous Green Prophet article, if a ski slope can be dreamed of on Qatar’s sand dunes, why not trees and green pasture land too? Well, that we think was just a joke.

Author: Maurice Picow

Maurice Picow grew up in Oklahoma City, U.S.A., where he received a B.S. Degree in Business Administration. Following graduation, Maurice embarked on a career as a real estate broker before making the decision to move to Israel. After arriving in Israel, he came involved in the insurance agency business and later in the moving and international relocation fields. Maurice became interested in writing news and commentary articles in the late 1990’s, and now writes feature articles for the The Jerusalem Post as well as being a regular contributor to Green Prophet. He has also written a non-fiction study on Islam, a two volume adventure novel, and is completing a romance novel about a forbidden love affair. Writing topics of particular interest for Green Prophet are those dealing with global warming and climate change, as well as clean technology - particularly electric cars.

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