The measures taken by the Public Parks Department at the Ministry of Municipality to overcome the challenge of water for irrigation are expected to increase the number of public parks and green areas manifold in coming years, said an official.
“To reduce water consumption, the Department deployed a centralised irrigation control system that allows the scheduling and management of the irrigation installation from a single location,” said Director of the Public Parks Department, Eng Muhammad Ali Al Khouri.
Speaking to Qatar TV recently, he said that a highly efficient drip irrigation system for watering plants and trees was also adopted. “Now pipelines of treated waters are being laid at places to feed the irrigation system of the Department watering trees,” said Al Khouri.
He said that the public parks are being developed across the country following the plans of the Ministry of Municipality. “Lands for building new parks in the future will be allocated by the Ministry of Municipality in cooperation with a number of entities concerned. The public parks are expected to increase two to three times from the existing 148 parks,” said Al Khouri.
“Many projects were implemented for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022; however, the plantation drive will continue to achieve the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030 which aimed at increasing greeneries in Qatar to keep pace with the fast urban development of the country.”
He said that the expansion of parks is going in a well-planned manner. “The Ministry of Municipality in cooperation with Ashghal is laying pipelines of treated water along the roads as soon as the work is accomplished, the roadside plantation will start in those areas.”
He said that the biggest challenge in the way of plantation in the country is water which is being overcome with the support of Ashghal by utilising treated water in irrigating trees.
The number of public parks in Qatar reached 148 in 2022 from 56 in 2010, recording 164 percent growth. The green spaces in the country also increased to more than 43 million square meters in 2022, from about 2.5 million square meters in 2010.
The per capita share of the green area rose to 16 square meters from less than one square meter in 2010, with an increase of 16 folds.
The Director of Public Parks Department said that plantations and increasing green spaces in a country with a desert climate like Qatar face challenges of high temperatures, shortage of water and fertile soil for plantation which required deep study to reduce maintenance costs for plants.
“Maintenance cost of plants is very high especially during scorching heat of summer. We are planting local trees in the country so they can sustain this harsh climate.”
“The Public Works Authority had announced that it built roads stretching about 300 km across the country which needs roadsides plantation,” said Al Khouri.
To do so, he said: “We need soil and water. Typical studies are also required for rationalising water consumption and reducing maintenance cost. Perennial trees which are growing in the desert land of the country do not need any maintenance as they are surviving at very little amount of water.”
He said that public parks at residential areas started attracting growing number of visitors during past few years. “With growing number of public parks, the accessibility of people to the parks rose significantly.”
“Prime Minister and Minister of Interior H E Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Thani planted millionth tree which marked the beginning of the ‘Plant 10 Million Trees by 2030’ initiative,” said Al Khouri.
The millionth tree was planted on December 18, 2022 as part of ‘Plant Million Tree’ initiative which was launched in 2019. He said that the massive campaign to plant trees aimed at reducing carbon footprint because studies suggest that a big tree observes carbon emission of four vehicles.
“The number of trees in the country is growing fast however, we are still at the beginning to our goals which aimed to plant across the country as much as possible,” said Al Khouri.
