Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: At least 26.5 percent more trees were planted this year during spring season across the country.

Climate Change Ministry spokesperson, Saleem Sheikh, said on Sunday that a tree plantation target of 153 million was set for the spring season during a high-level inter-ministerial and inter-provincial meeting held in the Climate Change Ministry on January 29 this year.

The meeting was chaired by Climate Change Minister Zahid Hamid, who had approved the target.

Saleem Sheikh said, “About 208 million trees were planted during the three-month spring season, which is 55 million extra trees planted against the target of 153 million in short span of three months.” The spring season begins from mid of late February and lasts till end of April.

While giving break up of the spring tree plantation target achieved and set, the Climate Change Ministry spokesperson said that Punjab Forest Department planted 13.92 million trees against target of 12.09 million trees followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 175.64 million trees against the target of 123 million trees, Sindh with 7.1 million trees against 6.799 million trees’ target, Balochistan with 1.093 million trees against 1.5 million, Azad Jammu and Kashmir with 3.157 million trees against 1.3 million trees, Gilgit Baltistan with 0.711 million trees against 1.1 million trees, FATA with 4.389 against four million trees, Capital Development Authority (CDA) with 2,59000 trees against 300,000 trees, National Highway Authority (NHA) with 70,034 trees against 1,25,000 trees, Ministry of Defence with 6,30,000 trees against 700,000 trees, Heavy Taxila Industry with 3,610 trees against 5,000 trees, Pakistan Ordinance Factory with 9,200 trees against 15,000 trees and a non-governmental organisation (IUCN) planted 100,000 trees against 250,000.

He said that tree plantation targets are set twice a year for spring season from February to March and monsoon season from June to September adding that tree plantations during these two crucial seasons are vital to boost tree cover to make the country climate proof. “The role of forests in tackling climate change impacts, particularly floods, soil, wind and river erosions, sea-level rise, erratic and torrential rains, is now being recognised globally and so by the present Pakistani government”, he said.

He further said that Pakistan is home to forests over around 800,000 hectares, which constitutes to be five percent of the total land mass of the country. “But the country loses forests over some 27,000 hectares every year, he added. This trend of deforestation has exposed the country to the negative fallouts of the global warming induced climate change,” he highlighted. The spokesperson said the present government is abreast of the country’s exacerbating vulnerability to the climate change impacts and was taking measures to boost climate resilience of the country. Saleem Sheikh explained, “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ambitious Green Pakistan Programme is a clear indicator of the present government’s seriousness towards protecting socio-economic sectors, lives and livelihoods of the people from the climate change impacts, which have shown rise in frequency and intensity.”