ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday launched the national plantation drive, titled ‘Green Pakistan’, by planting a sapling here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (President House).
Speaking on the occasion, the president said that protection of forests was important for the preservation of the environment and for the stability of the national economy.
President Mamnoon said that Green Pakistan campaign would prove to be helpful in addressing the challenge of climate change and stressed the need to plant more trees in the country.
He also emphasised the need to protect the forests as a national asset. He further said that planting trees was a continuous process and urged people belonging to different walks of life to join hands with the government for this cause.
The president said youth should be encouraged to protect the environment by planting trees, adding that this issue should also be made part of the academic syllabus at the school level.
He said Pakistan and the international community was taking effective steps for the preservation of forests and suggested that plants should be a common sight alongside roads, agriculture lands and near railway tracks.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Mushahidullah Khan said on the occasion that his ministry was taking steps to counter the negative impacts of climate change. He also apprised the president about the formulation of the country’s first ever wildlife policy.
