Qatar has announced that it will build extensive public realm and plant thousands of trees in its capacity as the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The plan, which will see the country’s newly-created sports stadia encircled by at least 850,000 sq m of walkable green parks, was revealed by the Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) at this year’s World Sustainability Summit.

The news came a day after the country’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy declared that it would transfer homegrown turf to the World Cup arenas from its 16,000-tree nursery – reportedly the largest of its kind in the world.

SC Secretary-General, H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi originally outlined Qatar's commitment to greater environmental sustainability in 2016, when he promised to abound by FIFA’s Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), the first environmental performance-based system in the MENA region.