According to media reports, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa has directed that all government buildings schools and hospitals should use steel or aluminum as an alternate of wooden windows and doors to protect forests from being cut down. This is a very good decision. Before this initiative the KP government had launched the ‘Green Khyber Pakhtunkhawa’ campaign with the aim to plant eight million trees across the province.
The forestry sector of Pakistan is a main source of lumber, paper, fuel wood, latex, medicine as well as food and provides ecotourism and wildlife conservation purposes. Many governments in the world take different measures to protect forests from being cut. The environmental issues in our country have been disturbing the balance between economic development and environmental protection. The decision taken by the KP government is admirable. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should also direct the federal government to apply this in the whole country.
Laraib Shah
