Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), stressed that soil and forests are the pillars of life on Earth, given their key role in providing food, preserving ecosystems and supporting biodiversity. He added that sustainable management of lands and forests offer solid solutions to fighting desertification and the expansion of degraded land, underlining the importance of adopting a strategy to overcome these challenges, which is based on promoting efforts to reclaim degraded lands and protect forests.

Dr. AlMalik made this statement during a panel discussion on, “Strengthening Soil Health and Climate Resilience: Sustainable Forest and Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa and West Asia”, held in cooperation among ICESCO, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Islamic Organization for Food Security, as part of the proceedings of COP16, currently being held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Dr. AlMalik commended the efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to protect the environment, stating that the Kingdom offers an inspiring model in the Islamic world through its “Saudi Green Initiative”, which features the implementation of more than 80 activities and programs, including the plan to plant 10 billion trees and reclaim 40 million hectares of degraded land.

Moreover, the Director-General highlighted the Organization’s key environmental initiatives and programs aiming at providing the Member States with the necessary knowledge and expertise to transition to smart agricultural systems and adopt sustainable practices. He also highlighted ICESCO’s ambitious program to produce 500,000 seedlings in the countries of the Islamic world and its Initiative, “Water Sustainability Collaboration Data Solutions Hub”, launched at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Dr. Raheel Qamar, Head of the Science and Technology Sector, and Dr. Hisham Al-Askari, Advisor to ICESCO Director General, also took part in the panel discussion.

ICESCO Pavilion hosted a number of panel discussions, including “A Multidimensional Understanding of Land, Water and Communities Fragility and Resilience Pathways in MENA”, “Bridging Capacity Gap in Nature-Based Solutions to Deliver Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)”, and “Financing Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus (WEFE) to Fight Drought and Land Degradation. Sessions were also held to discuss “Role of Green Media in Fostering Efforts to protect the Earth and harmonize Biodiversity”, and “the Contributions and Role of Women in Desertification”.