Daily Times

Assembled under a Shisham tree for collective meal after crushing of wheat, Kamal Ali along with his brothers and fellow farmers were seen sewing wheat sacks by using shads of canopy trees to avoid scorching heat.

Repeatedly asking his brothers and co labourers to hurry up to sew all 100 bags and shift it to godwon at home before sunset at village Mohib Banda Nowshera, Kamal told APP that trees plantations was the hobby of his late father Hamyun Khan and today his love for trees is greatly help protect them from the sizzling heat. Followed the footprints of his father, the motivated farmer had planted 500 Shisham saplings on my farm lands keeping in view of its enermous benefits especially averting of heat in Pakistan.

Pakistan is a unique country in South Asia blessed with numerous varieties of indigenous tall canopy trees including Shisham extremely beneficial to increase chances of rains besides mitigating the adverse effects of climate change, global warming and air pollution.

An abode to world tallest shady trees mostly found in Hamalya, Karakuram to Hindokush mountains ranges, Pakistan’s coastal areas of Karachi and Gwadar, alpine pasture Malakand, Hazara, Muree, AJK and GB beside arid zones of DI Khan, DG Khan, Cholistan, Bahawalpur and Tharparker, are acting as purifiers of environment by significantly enhancing chances of rain, producing oxygen, absorbing carbon dioxide, controlling temperature and air pollution in the country.

The national tree of Pakistan, Deodar and other famous species including Kail, Spruce and Walnut are being found in relatively cold climate areas of Swat, Chital, Kohistan, Dir, Gilgit Baltistan and AJK whereas Punjab and KP are the epicenters of native Shisham, Siris, Pipal, Bakin, Amaltas, Willow,  Poplar, Mulberry, Phulai, Alstona, Kachnar, Bottle Brush, Gul e Nashtar and Jaman.

Kikar, Neem, Beera at Sindh and mangroves at coastal areas of Karachi, Thatta and Balochistan and  endangered juniper trees at Ziarat near Quetta are easiest sources to counterbalance growing effects of climate change and air pollution besides bolstering chances of rains in Pakistan.

“Pakistan is bestowed with more than 200 native trees and nine different forest ecological systems hardly found in any other country of world,” Muhammad Tehmasip, former Project Director, PTI Government’s Billions Trees Afforestration Project (BTAP) told APP. He said, “one healthy shady tree provides oxygen to two to four persons and 1075 plants on one hectare land absorb six to eight tons carbon dioxide on daily basis.”

“Trees are a main source of absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen for people and bolstering chances of rains,” he said. Due to increase in global warming, he said, change had been witnessed in normal patterns of rains in recent years across the globe including Pakistan and resultantly disturbed the weather pattern.