October 28-29 October 2024 , Jeddah, Kingodom of Saudi Arabia

The closing meeting of the Regional Programme for the Eradication of the Red Palm Weevil in the Near East and North Africa Region, funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between 28-29 October 2024.

It was organized in cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the National Center for the Prevention and Control of Plant Pests and Animal Diseases (WEQAA). It was a scientific, participatory event. The program’s outputs, accomplished by 15 local, regional, and international organizations, were presented on its platform. They focused on five pillars: governance, scientific research, capacity building, early detection, and reviewing and improving countries’ plans for managing the red palm weevil. Thirty-five specialists from different countries presented the results of their research, and more than 25 participants from the WEQAA Center participated.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Ayman Omar, representing the Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Special Advisor to the Director-General of FAO, Mr. Zhengyuan Xia, who presented the broad outlines of the program and the need to continue implementing its outputs by establishing a complementary program to implement them in the field. The Executive Director of the WEQAA Center, Eng. Ayman Al-Ghamdi expressed his pleasure with the achievements made by the program and the need to follow up on the results to transfer them to the field to benefit from them and employ them to protect palm wealth. The Regional Plant Protection Officer, Mr. Thaer Yaseen, the project coordinator, presented a detailed presentation on the program outputs and the solid scientific facts it reached, aiming at the sound and sustainable management of the red palm weevil. The meeting was characterized by deep and vital discussions of the submitted presentations, in addition to the presentations submitted by the countries that benefited from the project technically and technologically.

Mr. Ibrahim Al-Jboory, a member of the Arab Society for Plant Protection executive committee and consultant of the Weevil Program, attended the meeting. He chaired one of the sessions and lectured on early detection techniques for red palm weevil emerging as an output of the program and applied in the project countries.

The project concluded with a proposal for a regional program to proceed in applying the program’s most important findings on the ground.