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South Korea’s First Lady Joins Tree Planting Event in Riyadh

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)
South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)
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South Korea’s First Lady Joins Tree Planting Event in Riyadh

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)
South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee during Monday's event. (SPA)

South Korea’s First Lady Kim Keon-hee planted a tree in Riyadh on Monday to mark the 61st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and South Korea.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol had visited the Kingdom earlier this week.

The tree-planting event, organized by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), took place at the Scientific Park in Riyadh.

Kim was received by Mayor of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Ayyaf and Executive Director of Green Riyadh at RCRC Abdulaziz Al-Muqbel.

She was briefed on the Green Riyadh Project and its impact on improving the quality of life, on the remarkable growth that Riyadh is witnessing and on the various megaprojects being carried out in the city.

Green Riyadh is one of Riyadh’s megaprojects launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz with the aim of planting 7.5 million trees across the capital, increasing the per capita share of green space from 1.7 square meters to 28 square meters, and improving the urban landscape of the capital.

It also contributes to achieving one of the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative and Vision 2030, which is to plant 10 billion trees across the Kingdom over the coming decades.

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South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary Plan Blocked at Int’l Meeting

A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS
A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS
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South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary Plan Blocked at Int’l Meeting

A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS
A juvenile pygmy blue whale swims, following a rescue operation by members of the Department of Conservation New Zealand in Kawau Island, New Zealand, September 16, 2024. Department Of Conservation New Zealand/Handout via REUTERS

A proposal to establish a sanctuary for whales and other cetacean species in the southern Atlantic Ocean was rejected at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) on Thursday, disappointing animal conservationists, Reuters reported.
At the IWC's annual session in Lima, Peru, 40 countries backed a plan to create a safe haven that would ban commercial whale hunting from West Africa to the coasts of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, extending a protected area already in place in the Southern Ocean.
However, 14 countries opposed the plan, meaning it narrowly failed to get the 75% of votes required.
Among the opponents were Norway, one of the three countries that still engage in commercial whaling, along with Iceland and Japan. Iceland abstained, while Japan left the IWC in 2019.
Petter Meier, head of the Norwegian delegation, told the meeting that the proposal "represents all that is wrong" about the IWC, adding that a sanctuary was "completely unnecessary".
Norway, Japan and Iceland made 825 whale catches worldwide last year, according to data submitted to the IWC.
Whaling fleets "foreign to the region" have engaged in "severe exploitation" of most species of large whales in the South Atlantic, and a sanctuary would help maintain current populations, the proposal said.
The South Atlantic is home to 53 species of whales and other cetaceans, such as dolphins, with many facing extinction risks, said the proposal. It also included a plan to protect cetaceans from accidental "bycatch" by fishing fleets.
"It's a bitter disappointment that the proposal ... has yet again been narrowly defeated by nations with a vested interest in killing whales for profit," said Grettel Delgadillo, Latin America deputy director at Humane Society International, an animal conservation group.
An effort by Antigua and Barbuda to declare whaling a source of "food security" did not gain support, and the IWC instead backed a proposal to maintain a global moratorium on commercial whaling in place since 1986.
"Considering the persistent attempts by pro-whaling nations to dismantle the 40-year-old ban, the message behind this proposal is much needed," said Delgadillo.