ISLAMABAD: The government has released an amount of Rs554 million during this year to ensure implementation of Revival of Forestry Resources under Prime Minister Green Pakistan Programme.
The total cost of the programme is Rs.3652.1 million which has been launched to increase forest coverage and facilitate transition towards environmentally resilient Pakistan by main-streaming notions of adaptation and enabling policy environment. Sources at Climate Change Division on Tuesday said objectives of the programme will be achieved by implementing different initiatives and projects. It has two major projects and will be implemented over a period of five years (2017-2021). The objectives planned to be achieved include one hundred million new indigenous plants including 20 per cent fruits plants to make the country green and serene.
These include one thousand avenue miles of canal/roadside plantation in Punjab, Khyber akhtunkhwa and Sindh; Olive and Kikar Phulai forests in Kala Chitta, Pabbi Rasul and Fort Monroe scrub forest of Punjab;
Dry temperature forest in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Guzara forest in Murree/Kotli Sattian and Hazara and protected forests of Malakand region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK);
Mangrove forests in Karachi and Badin along with scrub hill forests of Khirthar range in Sindh; Juniper forests of Ziarat and Chilghoza forest in Suleiman range of Balochistan; Watershed and soil conservation plantation and operations in Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK moist tropical forest areas. Historic Irrigated Plantation of Changa Manga, Daphar, Bahawalpur and Chichawatni; The other project is Strengthening Policy Measures for Conservation of Biodiversity and areas to be focussed include approval and implementation of National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan; Establish strategic support units at national and provincial level to ensure smooth implementation of ongoing green initiatives and plan future activities on sustainable basis; Supporting communication measures and demand mobilization for an environmentally resilient Pakistan; Projection of best practices of Green Pakistan Programme through media and international forums; Capacity building of provincial forestry and wildlife departments to support afforestation, awareness campaigns and human resource development for sound natural management and biodiversity promotion; Moreover, another programme is Revival of Wildlife Resources in Pakistan. The estimated cost of this project is Rs.1.065 billion and will be implemented in five years (2017-2021). The main objective of this programme is to revive and functionally recognize wildlife departments at provincial/AJK and GB level through development of time-bound plans including capacity building and incentive driven performance regime.
