Climate Change Minister Senator Mushahidullah Khan on Sunday directed the federal and provincial forest officials to boost urban forestry at national scale to protect urban areas from heat waves and from becoming heat islands.
After holding the office of minister, this was the first direction passed by Mushahidullah Khan. Mushahidullah while directing the forest officials said that planting trees in urban centres must be made integral part of the seasonal monsoon and spring tree plantation campaigns and Prime Minister’s Green Pakistan Programme (GPP) being implemented by the Climate Change Ministry in collaboration with provincial forest departments to avert growing threat of heat island effect in urban areas that costs both lives and people’s livelihoods.
The minister highlighted that urban forestry was the most viable and cheapest way to protect Pakistan’s urban areas from becoming heat islands. “Our cities and towns have now become recently hotter than their adjoining or nearby rural areas for various reasons and increasing green areas and planting more trees in the cities and towns is the most effective and cheapest way to cope with heat island effect that poses risk to lives and livelihoods in urban centres of the country,” Mushahidullah Khan noted.
An urban heat island (UHI) effect is described as an urban or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities.
Talking about numerous benefits of urban forestry, he said large urban trees are wonderful filters for urban pollutants and fine particulates. “Large trees with widely spread thick canopy, when placed strategically, can help improve urban air quality by filtering it, remove heat-trapping carbon dioxide from urban atmosphere and increase amount of the oxygen in it for improved public health,” he emphasised.
Counting key causes of the heat island effects, he said removal of green areas, rapid rise in motor vehicles, soaring building construction activities, modification of land surfaces, emission of heat from air conditioning units and encroachment on natural waterways or rainwater drains have converted the urban centres into heat islands, making them unlivable.
The minister noted that these natural waterways that snake through these urban centres provide natural cooling effect when wind passed across them during sweltering summer months. “But it is a matter of sorry that most of them have been encroached upon by land mafia in connivance with civil and municipal authorities,” Mushahid remarked.
Referring to international studies on urban forestry, the minister said, “Trees properly placed around buildings play a vital role in reducing air conditioning needs by 30 per cent and save energy used for heating by 20–50 per cent. Besides, these trees provide habitat, food and protection to plants and animals, re-vitalising ailing urban biodiversity of the country.”
Good approach but needs to strengthened with wide wide publicity in schools and colleges and local body official
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