Qatar to grow 16,000 trees at 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums

Qatar will create history when it hosts the Middle East’s first FIFA World Cup in 2022.

While stadium construction work is progressing briskly around the country, Qatar is also making huge strides in another surprising area — growing trees.

At the Northern-most tip of Qatar, 300 transplanted trees are already in place in a project that will increase in scale to 16,000 trees in the coming years. Once complete, the project will have grown approximately 60 varieties of trees.

The Sidra tree, which has grown in the Qatari deserts for generations and has long provided shade and shelter to travellers, will form a central part of the plan.

While stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will leave a legacy on their wake, efforts have also gone into building green areas for the community in the stadium’s precinct.

To cater to this need, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has kicked off construction of a tree and landscape grass nursery that will cater to the requests of these resources coming from all 2022 FIFA World Cup sites.

Works have begun on an 880,000 square meter site next to the Doha North Sewage Treatment Works Plant where the nursery will be located. The nursery will be divided into different areas dedicated to planting landscape grass, trees and shrubs. The water treatment plant will help irrigate the facility.

“This is a very ambitious project that we see as legacy. We want to cater to all areas surrounding the proposed 2022 FIFA World Cup stadiums by harvesting the section dedicated to landscape grass, which is around 440,000 square meters, three times per year.

“This means we will produce 1.2m square meters of landscape grass per year. By using water from the sewage water treatment plant we are also ensuring that the project is as sustainable as possible,” said Yasser Al Mulla, SC Landscape & Sport Turf Management Senior Manager.

The nursery will supply grass, trees and shrubs to the contractors building the surrounding area for the different sites, ensuring that the communities around the stadiums have a green space for recreational activities:

The entire perimeter of the site will be planted with trees that will be elevated to serve as windbreakers.

A 30,000 square metre section will be dedicated to growing 16,000 trees and another area will be used for around 3,000 transplanted trees.

Trees will be grown on site for between two to five years before they are taken to the different sites.

Picture courtesy: sc.qa