Tourism & Hospitality | Saturday 28 February, 2015 8:55 am |

A Riyadh-based group has planted 2,300 trees of six varieties for Saudi Aramco in Qurais, Eastern Province, with the use of a super water-saving polymer it had invented.
“There have been several delays in planting the trees due to the winter season, during which the different varieties could have frozen,” said Ibrahim Alalim, head of the Estefaa Group and the inventor.

The varieties include Maringa, Zizves, Neem, Arabic Cedar, Acacia Arabia and Pazaromia. They are intended to help prevent climate change in the region and create a green environment for Saudi Aramco employees.
“Trees will be planted on 5.5 km of land at set intervals. It will take us about three weeks to plant a total of 3,500 trees,” Alalim said.
He said the Estefaa Group would nurture each tree with 200 liters of water, with the use of the super-absorbent polymer. They would be watered every two weeks for about two years and then depend on rainfall for water.

The company is upbeat about the project because Saudi Aramco has promised other tree-planting assignments if the venture proves successful. He said the project would benefit this generation “but also our grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will have cleaner air to breathe and an environment conducive to health.”
Alalim’s water-absorbing polymer, Polykem Hydrogel PAgriSap, is much like big pieces of salt that absorb large quantities of water. If it is placed in soil, it absorbs 600 times its own weight in water, Alalim had told Arab News previously. He developed the technology while working in Lausanne, Switzerland, for 20 years.


With the use of the polymer, the trees are expected to store large quantities of water for several years. It would then depend on rainfall for future water needs.