On the occasion of International Day of Forests, Pakistan Navy in line with the prime minister’s vision of “Green Pakistan” launched on Monday launched a mangroves plantation campaign in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah graced the occasion as the chief guest and inaugurated the mangroves plantation campaign, said a statement issued by the ISPR here.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a large number of senior military and civil officials including representatives from the business community, journalists, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), officials from federal and provincial forest departments.
On the occasion, the chief of the naval staff highlighted that deforestation of mangroves had not only affected biodiversity of the coastal areas but also livelihoods of the coastal communities. He said that the navy’s plantation drive was an initiative to plant additional mangroves as well as to create awareness among masses about significance of mangroves in a bid to support the nature.
Mangroves occur at crossroads where oceans, freshwater and land realms meet.
They are among the most productive and complex ecosystems on the planet, growing under environmental conditions that would kill ordinary plants very quickly.
They are vital to coastal ecosystem, prevention of sea intrusion and sustainment of marine life.
Being a major stakeholder of the maritime domain and realizing the importance of mangroves for marine life, Pakistan Navy has taken a major initiative to revive Mangrove forests all along the coast.