islamabad - Ministry of Climate Change launched Monsoon Tree Plantation Drive 2017 at Rose and Jasmin Garden with an aim to plant 103 million trees during the present season. Former Federal Minister Climate Change, MNA Zahid Hamid formally inaugurated the drive and cited that forests are the most effective way for coping with the global warming-induced climate change impacts on the country’s critical socio-economic sectors, particularly agriculture and water.
“The important services forests provide are often ignored or underestimated by many of us as long as we wake up to the unprecedented environmental importance the forests promise to us,” he said. “Trees, in fact, help protect soil and regulate water on farms, mitigate floods, regulate weather and enrich biodiversity. Besides, crops grown in agro-forestry systems are often more resilient to drought, excess rain and erratic weather patterns,” Zahid hamid added.
Meanwhile, Climate Change Ministry Media spokesperson told media that the plan aims to recover the tree cover lost because of unchecked deforestation in the country over last a few decades and bring thousands of hectares of land under trees during next five years.
He said that a national forest policy has already been approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) that will help actualise to boost the country’s forest cover too boost the country’s climate resilience against climate change disasters, particularly floods, heat waves, sea-level rie, sea intrusion, land erosion, land sliding, disappearing of natural water springs in mountain areas, erratic and shifting weather and rainfall patterns.”