LAHORE  -    EcoSikh, a US-based organisation, will launch its first-ever tree plantation campaign ‘Guru Nanak Sacred Forest’ in Pakistan tomorrow (Monday).

The campaign, named after founder of the Sikh religion Baba Guru Nanak, will kick off at the Punjabi Language Research Centre in Kasur in connection with Baba Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary. The campaign will be executed in collaboration with RESTORE, a Lahore-based afforestation firm.

EcoSikh President Dr Rajwant Singh said that Guru Nanak had given a clear message that humans have a great deal to learn from nature. “We consider nature as a sacred gift from the Creator. Guru Nanak said air is the teacher, water is father and earth is our mother, thereby implying that we need to have a deep understanding of our relationship with nature. So creating a forest in name of Guru Nanak would be implementation of his vision,” he said.

Iqbal Qaisar, director of Khoj Garh, the Punjabi language research centre in Kasur where the said forest will be established, said, “This is the best way to pay tribute to Guru Nanak who was a nature lover.” He said, “Guru Nanak healed people during his lifetime and we wanted to send message that his legacy can still continue to heal people and spread love in this part of the world.”

RESTORE CEO Bilal A Chaudhry said the organisation was excited to work on this project in collaboration with EcoSikh. “Guru Nanak Sacred Forests around the world will give the message of our relationship with nature. Forests provide tremendous benefits and majority of countries in the region desperately need this.

We have seen disastrous deforestation here in recent decades, leading to many problems,” he said, adding that these forests would serve as genetic banks for the future generations and ensure its co-existence and survival.