Imran calls for pragmatic efforts to enhance forest area | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Imran calls for pragmatic efforts to enhance forest area

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD – Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan yesterday called for the adoption of pragmatic efforts to enhance forest area in the country and said that his party Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had set important targets for next five years in the name of ‘Green Growth Programme’.

Addressing a news conference, Imran Khan said that increased warming has caused rapid melting of glaciers, which would have adverse effects on future water needs.

Explaining KP governments’ efforts to preserve natural environment, he said that KP had planned to plant on billion trees in five years and reiterate his resolve to double the number of national parks in the province.
“KP has taken important steps to save future generations from dangerous effects of environment changes,” he said adding that South Asia was 30 times vulnerable to natural disasters than Europe.
He said that spending one dollar in the improvement of atmosphere could save seven dollars.
He vowed to increase the forestry area of the province up to 22 percent.

PTI chief claimed that PILDAT, an NGO, had ranked KP as the best province in first year of this his party’s government with regard to environment governance.
KP had been given Bonn membership as the first federating unit in the world and the province is also the first member of Asian Protected Area Partnership.

Special programs had been initiated to make the province clean from carbon emissions.
He said that 40 per cent work of the ‘Billion Tree Tsunami Project’ in KP had been completed.
About 200 million saplings had been planted while 200 million had been re-planted naturally through the preservation of forestry.
He claimed that more 300 million saplings were ready in the nurseries for the upcoming years.
The ratio of preservation of saplings is 85 percent in billion-tree tsunami project.

Chairman PTI said that 10 per cent funds had been increased in KP for the preservation of forests and 25 per cent number of trees had been increased than previous one.
He said that the forest area in KP had been increased up to one lakh hector.
The international organization like WWF had also declared the tsunami tree project very successful.
He said that special attention had been paid to preserve six national parks of the province and 712 million rupees had been earmarked for these parks.
365 small hydel projects had been initiated at village level in KP to provide clean energy to the masses, he concluded.

The Nation