His Excellency, Prof. Faleh bin Rajallah Al-Solami, President of King Khalid University, attended the launch of "Forest Fires Risk Management" workshop, in collaboration with the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Desertification Control and Monash University. The workshop will run for three days, until Thursday, January 18, 2024, at the Conference and Exhibition Center at Al-Fara'a University City.

Dr. Khaled Al-Abdulkader, CEO of the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Desertification Control, explained in his opening speech, which was delivered on his behalf by Eng. Sameer Malaikah, where he stressed that the center has a comprehensive project with King Khalid University to study ways of forest fires prevention in coordination with various sectors to protect forests and their sustainability. The goal of this project is to create a major database of forest locations, needs, and outputs, as well as the locations of dams and water sources. He added that the workshop is the second interactive workshop in the project to provide advisory services to study ways to prevent forest fires in the southern and southwestern regions of the Kingdom. He also said that the center will soon launch an additional project to create an integrated forest fire prevention system in collaboration with relevant parties, in order to reduce fires, develop and sustain forests, and increase vegetation cover, in line with the Saudi Green Initiative.

Dr. Hamid bin Majdou Al-Qarni, Vice-President for Graduate Studies and Research at King Khalid University, said that the southwestern region of the Kingdom is a priority for forest protection and other environmental issues. He noted that forests are one of the most important tourist attractions in these regions, and that their sustainability is essential for environmental protection. He added that King Khalid University is aware of its responsibility to protect the environment and is committed to doing so. The university identifies environmental protection as its top research priority and is working with local and international partners to achieve this goal.

On her end, Dr. Rahma Nasser Gris, Director of the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Natural Resources, explained that this workshop is an extension of the forest fires prevention project. She added that the workshop aims to visit previous forest fire sites to learn about the causes of fires and how to fight them effectively. In the upcoming days, participants will learn about the strategic approach to forest fire risk management systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the integrated forest fire risk management from an international perspective.

Dr. Al-Gris, said that these workshops will clarify the factors that contribute to forest fires in Saudi Arabia, review forest fires in 2023, and review methods for recording, reporting, and evaluating fires in Saudi Arabia. As well as Proposed measures at the local and regional levels to prevent forest fires, the mechanism for designing forest fire risk management systems and frameworks, and incorporating international best practices.

Dr. Jonathan Abrahams from Monash University expressed his great pleasure at the fruitful collaboration between Monash University and King Khalid University on the project to provide advisory services to prevent forest fires and mitigate their effects. He said that the collaboration will allow Monash to share its expertise in this field, which has been developed through work with over 50 countries around the world with different land, environmental, and climatic conditions. He expressed hope that the collaboration will continue to grow in the future.

Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Zhrani, Director of the Civil Defense Department in the Asir region, also spoke at the opening ceremony. He said that forest fires are a major concern in the Kingdom, particularly in the Asir region, which has the largest share of forest cover. He spoke about the efforts of the Civil Defense General Directorate to manage forest fire risks, develop methods and approaches to dealing with forest fires, and incorporate the best international practices in this field.

The first session commenced shortly after, which focused on the strategic approach to forest fire risk management systems in Saudi Arabia. Followed by the second session, which was titled "Integrated Forest Fire Risk Management: International Practices", and the third session, which was titled "Forest Fire Risk Factors in Saudi Arabia.

The first day of the workshop concluded with the fourth session, which reviewed forest fires in 2023, including methods for recording, reporting, and evaluating fires in Saudi Arabia, as well as preventive measures to reduce forest fire incidents.