ALGIERS – The Algerian company Sonatrach, in partnership with the General Directorate of Forests (DGF), will launch a pilot project of planting 10 million shrubs over an area of between 10,000 and 13,000 hectares, to reduce carbon emissions, announced Monday, Abdelkrim Ouamer, central HSE director (hygiene, safety and environment) at Sonatrach.
This pilot project is part of Sonatrach’s climate strategy, which endeavours to plant more than 420 million trees on 560,000 hectares, with a budget estimated at one billion dollars, declared Ouamer on Algeria’s National Radio.
The DGF will conduct a study to identify the appropriate tree species and select the suitable sites within the national forest. Moreover, Part of this pilot project will be integrated with the green dam revival program, Ouamer said.
On one hand, the project manifests Sonatrach and Algeria’s commitment to combating climate change. On the other hand, it will create job opportunities, Ouamer indicated.
Accordingly, he explained that Sonatrach implements “climate governance” based on management practices to minimize the impact of its activities on the climate and the environment.
Among the measures taken, Ouamer mentioned efforts to reduce gas flaring to 1% by 2030, compared to the total volume of hydrocarbon production.
