PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakthunkhwa Forest Department has chalked out an inclusive action plan to plant 107.854 million saplings of different species under 10 billion trees afforstration project (BTAP) during spring campaign to offset challenges posed by climate change.
Forest Department officials told APP on Friday that out of 142.690 million plants raised in departmental and private nurseries in KP, 103.219 million plants are fit for spring plantation.
He said a mass plantation campaign under 10 BTAP would formally commence from the first week of February throughout the province including merged tribal districts for which all arrangements have been completed after consultation with stakeholders.
Out of 107.854 million target, he said 103.219 million saplings would be planted with the assistance of Government organizations, national building departments, farm forestry, educational institutions, public, village development committees and farmers besides 4.635 million through sowing and dibbling in the province.
Under the afforestation plan, he said 34.061 million saplings would be planted in central southern region-I comprising southern circle and seven merged tribal districts, 42.315 million saplings in northern forest region-II including Lower Hazara and Upper Hazara and 26.843 million in Malakand forest region-III Swat consisting Malakand west and Malakand east forest circles respectively.
As many as 63.023 million saplings would be planted through departmental plantation, 1.177 million through mass plantation, 29.071 million through farm forestry, 1.744 million through village development committees, 5.552 million through defense forces of Pakistan and 2.652 million through educational institutions.
The official said Pakistan was highly susceptible to climate change due to its geographical placement and facing looming threat of water scarcity and food insecurity owing to changing patterns of weather, deforestation, drought and desertification.
“The loss of 22 precious lives at Murree’s recent snowstorm, devastation of 2010 floods in KP, worst drought condition during 199-2003 and two cyclones in Karak and Gwadar Coast Floods (GOLF) in 2008 and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods including Ataabad Lake in Gilgit Baltistan could have been averted if whopping plantation was made by the past Governments,” he remarked.
To mitigate effects of climate change and global warming, he said the billion trees afforstration project (BTAP) had been launched in KP under which over 1.20 billion saplings were planted during 2014-17.
Keeping in view of its enormous success, he said the project was extended to the entire country by the Prime Minister Imran Khan on September 2, 2018 under which additional one billion trees would be planted in KP by 2023 through manmade plantation and forest enclosures.
He said a new forest at Ghari Chandan near Peshawar, which is bigger than Changa Manga, has been raised under BTAP that will become a key source of ecotourism and wildlife habitats besides mitigating effects of air pollution in the historic city.
For the first time, he said olive trees plantation was made part of a 10 billion trees project after its inauguration by the Prime Minister at Azakhel Nowshera on March 15 last year. “We are going to another offshoot i.e. ‘green, sweet and fruits for all’ under which olive and indigenous bees flora plants including ber and palosa would be planted to promote apiculture, horticulture and fruiti-culture in KP.
Despite COVID-19, he said BTAP’s plantation continued in the province under SOPs and hundreds of thousands of green jobs were provided to laborers’ during the pandemic, saving their families from hunger and starvation.
He said cooperation of media, academicians, LG representatives and politicians was necessary to create awareness among masses about importance of forest and wildlife resources and help motivate the general public to make plantation programs a success.
