CBD First National Report - Saudi Arabia (English version)

and increase environmental awareness to combat desertification. A detailed workplanhas been developed for implementation of the strategy.Forests National Workplan and Strategy.The Forests National Workplan and Strategy for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wascompleted in 2002. After presenting an overview of forests in the Arabian Peninsula,their status and threats, the strategy provides a general framework and specific targets toachieve the general objectives. Although the targets are not tightly timebound, they stillprovide clear directions and actions that organisations that are responsible for forestmanagement can follow.Of particular importance is the provision of three categories of measures(mandatory, voluntary and complimentary) that will be followed in implementing thestrategy. Education, capacity building and the involvement of a range of stakeholders areimportant components of these measures. Furthermore, the need to ensure wide sharingof the benefits of forest conservation is explicitly built into the strategy.50