The Friends of the Environment Center of the Ministry of Sports and Youth launched the first green forum 2022, in co-operation with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to discuss the conditions, phenomena and challenges of the environment in Qatar. It will look into and propose possible solutions, and submit recommendations in this regard to the concerned authorities.
The forum, which is held under the title 'The Grandparents' Meadows .. Trust', represents an open discussion platform for experts, interested parties, researchers and academics to propose solutions to the challenges facing the Qatari environment through a number of seminars and discussion sessions over the coming weeks.
During the forum's first symposium, which was held under the title 'Environment in Qatar: Challenges and Ambitions', Engineer Farhoud al-Hajri, Chief Executive Officer of the Friends of the Environment Center, called for giving the issue of sustainability the attention it deserves, saying "real development can only occur by preserving the environment and changing consumption patterns."
He stressed the importance of developing a strategy with certain goals and specific priorities that draw on the expertise of developed countries that have made great strides in dealing with the environment, warning at the same time that society has rights, including enjoying a safe healthy environment, and duties, including preservation of the environment and its components.
Al-Hajri indicated that the forum reviews a number of environmental issues and topics as well as challenges facing the country's quest to achieve the aspired environmental future and develop effective solutions for them, pointing out that the next symposium of the forum will be on April 13 and will be under the title 'Wildlife in Qatar: Reality and Hope'.
During the symposium, which was moderated by environmental expert Dr Mohamed Saif al-Kuwari, participants discussed the encroachments on the environment that affect individuals and society as a whole. They cited examples of land, sea and air pollution and some companies and factories dumping their waste in the sea or land and the resulting fumes, smokes and air contamination.
They also discussed the impact of these negative phenomena on public health and society as a whole and the development of solutions to limit the effects of these phenomena as well as the role of the various sectors in educating citizens about the dangers of these behaviours and the need to confront them.
The speakers at the symposium stressed that Qatar is witnessing rapid activity and progress at all industrial, commercial and construction levels, and that the environment is a vibrant living organism that gets sick and healthy and that affects its environmental components. It is like the human body made up of tiny cells that are affected by the slightest things, they said stressing the need to look at the environment as a vibrant body.
The speakers warned against overgrazing and encroachment on wild plants and wildlife, stressing the importance of raising awareness and educating new generations. They added that the development processes should take place in a balanced manner that takes into account the preservation of the environment, as well as the need for the concerned institutions to fulfill their responsibilities in following up and evaluating the state of the environment, reconsidering their related laws and regulations, and conducting training courses and advertising campaigns to raise awareness of this important issue.
The forum, which is held under the title 'The Grandparents' Meadows .. Trust', represents an open discussion platform for experts, interested parties, researchers and academics to propose solutions to the challenges facing the Qatari environment through a number of seminars and discussion sessions over the coming weeks.
During the forum's first symposium, which was held under the title 'Environment in Qatar: Challenges and Ambitions', Engineer Farhoud al-Hajri, Chief Executive Officer of the Friends of the Environment Center, called for giving the issue of sustainability the attention it deserves, saying "real development can only occur by preserving the environment and changing consumption patterns."
He stressed the importance of developing a strategy with certain goals and specific priorities that draw on the expertise of developed countries that have made great strides in dealing with the environment, warning at the same time that society has rights, including enjoying a safe healthy environment, and duties, including preservation of the environment and its components.
Al-Hajri indicated that the forum reviews a number of environmental issues and topics as well as challenges facing the country's quest to achieve the aspired environmental future and develop effective solutions for them, pointing out that the next symposium of the forum will be on April 13 and will be under the title 'Wildlife in Qatar: Reality and Hope'.
During the symposium, which was moderated by environmental expert Dr Mohamed Saif al-Kuwari, participants discussed the encroachments on the environment that affect individuals and society as a whole. They cited examples of land, sea and air pollution and some companies and factories dumping their waste in the sea or land and the resulting fumes, smokes and air contamination.
They also discussed the impact of these negative phenomena on public health and society as a whole and the development of solutions to limit the effects of these phenomena as well as the role of the various sectors in educating citizens about the dangers of these behaviours and the need to confront them.
The speakers at the symposium stressed that Qatar is witnessing rapid activity and progress at all industrial, commercial and construction levels, and that the environment is a vibrant living organism that gets sick and healthy and that affects its environmental components. It is like the human body made up of tiny cells that are affected by the slightest things, they said stressing the need to look at the environment as a vibrant body.
The speakers warned against overgrazing and encroachment on wild plants and wildlife, stressing the importance of raising awareness and educating new generations. They added that the development processes should take place in a balanced manner that takes into account the preservation of the environment, as well as the need for the concerned institutions to fulfill their responsibilities in following up and evaluating the state of the environment, reconsidering their related laws and regulations, and conducting training courses and advertising campaigns to raise awareness of this important issue.