RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has ambitious targets, including the hosting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) in Riyadh, which seeks to enhance cooperation between the 197 countries that have signed the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and search for practical solutions in rehabilitating degraded land to reduce drought. The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture highlighted the importance of the COP16. It said that vegetation cover in forests and pastures contributed to about 75 percent of the total worldwide income of freshwater, while 99 percent of the worldwide food income was taken from the land. According to international reports and studies, 3 billion people worldwide are affected by land degradation, with an estimated loss of $6 trillion. The ministry’s efforts have contributed to the preservation of more than 90,000 hectares of land by planting in excess of 50 million trees to develop the vegetation cover in all regions of the Kingdom in the past year, along with the many awareness initiatives and programs launched. The importance of the Kingdom’s hosting of COP16 is based on its interest in mobilizing the countries of the world to preserve lands of all kinds, reduce their degradation, and combat desertification and the effects of drought by launching ambitious initiatives such as the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative that aim to plant 50 billion trees.