Daily Times

Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (r) Nasirul Mulk on Wednesday kicked off the annual monsoon tree plantation campaign with a pledge to make Pakistan greener.

The caretaker prime minister planted a sapling of Pinus Roxburghii at the PM House. The Caretaker Minister for Climate Change Muhammad Yousaf Sheikh and senior officials were present at the launch ceremony.

The Ministry of Climate Change has set a target of planting 47.14 million trees during the monsoon this year at national level in collaboration with the provinces, Armed Forces, police, civil services, local bodies, corporations, municipalities, autonomous bodies, jails and educational institutions.

According to the targets, Punjab would plant 9 million, Sindh 11 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 15 million, Balochistan 0.6 million, Azad Jammu & Kashmir 3.6 million, Gilgit-Baltistan 0.5 million, the areas previously under Federally Administered Tribal Areas 5.3 million, National Highway Authority 0.5 million, International Union of Conservation of Nature 0.5 million, Pakistan Ordinance Factory 20,000, Ministry of Defense 1 million, Aeronautical Complex 20,000 and Heavy Industries Taxila set a target of 100,000. This plantation will be besides the one under the Green Pakistan Programme. The tree plantation campaigns are frequently conducted to highlight the important role of forests in the improvement of environment, to counter negative impact of climate change and poverty alleviation. The government has initiated a massive tree planting programme in all the provinces and territories of Pakistan through the Green Pakistan Programme.

The programme envisages planting of 100 million additional saplings throughout the country to make Pakistan greener. The total cost of the programme is Rs 3.652 billion over a period 2017-2021.

Published in Daily Times, July 19^th 2018.