Holy Makkah Municipality Launches Digital Afforestation Initiative

Holy Makkah Municipality Launches Digital Afforestation Initiative
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Holy Makkah Municipality Launches Digital Afforestation Initiative

Holy Makkah Municipality Launches Digital Afforestation Initiative

The Holy Makkah Municipality in Saudi Arabia has launched a digital afforestation initiative, enabling citizens and residents to join efforts to increase the vegetation cover, expand green spaces, protect the environment, and reduce carbon emissions.

The municipality identifies tree species appropriate for Makkah and the holy sites, along with suitable planting locations. These details are then uploaded to the Nabatik online platform that enables individuals to choose their preferred tree, select the location, make online payments, and have the trees planted on their behalf, thus enabling the community to participate in the tree-planting efforts from the comfort of their homes.

This effort aims to contribute to achieving climate goals, increase the number of trees in Makkah and the holy sites, and document the municipality's afforestation efforts through the Nabatik platform.



Toxic Cloud Forces 160,000 Spaniards to Stay Inside after Fire

A picture taken on May 10, 2025 shows smoke billowing from a building storing pool cleaning products, in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru, south of Barcelona. (AFP)
A picture taken on May 10, 2025 shows smoke billowing from a building storing pool cleaning products, in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru, south of Barcelona. (AFP)
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Toxic Cloud Forces 160,000 Spaniards to Stay Inside after Fire

A picture taken on May 10, 2025 shows smoke billowing from a building storing pool cleaning products, in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru, south of Barcelona. (AFP)
A picture taken on May 10, 2025 shows smoke billowing from a building storing pool cleaning products, in the coastal city of Vilanova i la Geltru, south of Barcelona. (AFP)

Around 160,000 people in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region were warned to stay inside on Saturday after a fire at an industrial estate caused a toxic cloud of chlorine over a wide area, emergency services said.

The blaze at a swimming pool cleaning products company started at 2.20 a.m. (0020 GMT) in Vilanova i la Geltru, a town 48 kilometers (30 miles) south of Barcelona and caused a huge plume of chlorine smoke over the area.

"If you are in the zone that is affected do not leave your home or your place of work," the Civil Protection service said on social media site X.

No one has been hurt in the fire, Catalan emergency services said on Saturday, but residents in five towns were sent a message on their mobile phones telling them to remain inside.

"It is very difficult for chlorine to catch fire but when it does so it is very hard to put it out," the owner of the industrial property, Jorge Vinuales Alonso, told local radio station Rac1.

He said the cause of the fire might have been a lithium battery.

Trains which were due to pass through the area were held up, roads were blocked and other events were cancelled.

The fire was under control, Civil Protection spokesperson Joan Ramon Cabello told the TVE television channel.