ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Climate Change, on Friday, launched Monsoon Tree Plantation Drive 2017 at Rose and Jasmin Garden with an aim to plant 103 million trees during the present season.
Former Climate Change Minister Zahid Hamid formally inaugurated the drive and cited that forests are the most effective way of 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 agroforestry systems are often more resilient to drought, excess rain and erratic weather patterns,” Zahid added.
Meanwhile, Climate Change Ministry spokesperson told reporters that the plan aims to recover the tree cover lost because of unchecked deforestation in the country over the last 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 boost the country’s forest cover and boost the country’s climate resilience against climate change disasters, particularly floods, heat waves, sea-level rise, sea intrusion, land erosion, land sliding, disappearing of natural water springs in mountain areas, erratic and shifting weather and rainfall patterns.”
