islamabad - Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan urged masses to actively participate in the ongoing countrywide spring tree plantation drive.
“Through maximum trees plantation, the country can be safeguarded from the negative effects of climate change” he said while taking to media persons.
He also highlighted that Pakistan had only 5 per cent area under forest and the government was committed to bring the forest cover to the area as per international standard. He said that cutting of forests at large scale and increasing population in the country were affecting the climate negatively.
Sharing the present government’s initiatives to protect the natural forests, he said that under Green Pakistan programme, the government had planted around 15 million trees while 85 million more trees would be planted till 2021.
The minister said that under “Ghar Ghar Aik Shajar” campaign, free trees would be distributed door to door in Islamabad in 10,000 houses.
Almost 100 students from different universities of Islamabad would participate in the programme, he said. “We have formulated new forest policy while first-ever wildlife policy is in final phase” he said.
Sharing the last five years’ progress of the ministry, he said that under spring tree plantation drive, about 407.3 millions trees had been planted while in Monsoon tree plantation drive, 216.7 million trees had been planted with the survival rate of 70 per cent.
He said that the ministry of climate change, Capital Development Authority and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad were jointly working on capacity building of employees for the purpose.