ISLAMABAD: A target of planting 109 million trees throughout the country has been set for the ongoing four-month monsoon season, which has kicked off from mid of July.
“A target of 109 million trees includes as many as 14.2 million trees that would be planted under the prime minister’s five-year Green Pakistan Programme during the monsoon season will also be launched,” said Deputy Director Media and Communication of Climate Change Ministry Muhammad Saleem.
He said Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid has approved the target after holding of a meeting with provincial forest departments, federal ministries, National Highway Authority, Pakistan Ordinance Factory, and Heavy Industry Texila.
Giving break-up of the spring tree plantation target, he said, as per targets set by the provincial and federal governments as well as departments, 13 million trees would be planted during the ongoing monsoon season by Punjab forest department throughout the province.
During the season, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will plant 75 million trees, Sindh 12 million trees, Baluchistan 0.7 million trees, Azad Jammu and Kashmir three million trees, FATA 4.1 million trees, Ministry of Defence one million trees, Heavy Industry Texila 1,000 trees, Pakistan Ordinance Factory 7,000 trees and IUCN 200,000 trees.
He said on January 29, 2016, a nation-wide target of 153 million trees plantation for this year’s spring season was set of which, around 208 million trees had been planted across the country and survival of the trees planted during the season more than 70 percent.
To a question he said, “The Green Pakistan Programme has been launched as a national cause and as a part of the present government’s efforts to protect the country and its people from devastating impacts of climate change-induced disasters, particularly floods, which have shown rise in intensity and frequency over recent years”. He said that forests are effective way to boost the country’s climate change resilience against negative fallouts of the climate change.
