Riyadh: The "Green Riyadh" program announced the start of greening works in Al-Nakheel neighborhood as part of its efforts to green residential neighborhoods in Riyadh.

Al-Nakheel is the seventh residential neighborhood to be greened, following Al-Aziziyah, Al-Naseem, Al-Jazeera, Al-Araija, Qurtuba, and Al-Ghadir.

The greening works in Al-Nakheel neighborhood will begin on Thursday, October 5. The neighborhood will be greened with 50,000 trees and shrubs through the development of 17 neighborhood parks, four schools, 30 mosques, 14 parking-lot areas, and 52 kilometers of streets and corridors.

Accompanying the greening works in Al-Nakheel neighborhood will be an exhibition and events aimed at raising awareness among the neighborhood residents about the start of the infrastructure works for greening their neighborhood, the project's stages and duration, as well as the future vision and designs of the neighborhood after the project’s completion. The exhibition is scheduled to be held in Al-Nakheel neighborhood from October 5 to 14.

The Green Riyadh program is one of Riyadh's four megaprojects, launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as an initiative of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

It aims to plant over 7.5 million trees in the city of Riyadh, increase the green coverage of Riyadh to 9.1%, increase the per capita share of green spaces from 1.7 m2 to 28 m2 -- or 16 times its current level -- and enhance the urban environment of Riyadh through greening residential neighborhoods.

The program contributes to achieving the targets of the Saudi Green Initiative and the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which include planting 10 billion trees within the Kingdom in the coming decades.