ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked all Pakistanis particularly the youth to prepare for the “biggest tree planting campaign in Pakistan’s history”.
The premier shared an infographic on Twitter that showed the number of trees per person in different countries. According to the chart, there are 10,163 trees per person in Canada, 699 per person in the United States, 130 per person in China, 28 per person in India, but only five trees per person in Pakistan.
“We have a lot of catching up to do,” the prime minister said. “And we will be gearing up this monsoon season for our plantation drive — the biggest in Pakistan’s history.”
I want all Pakistanis, esp our youth, to gear up for the biggest tree planting campaign in our history. We have a lot of catching up to do. pic.twitter.com/miObo6XLK6
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 27, 2021
In February this year, Prime Minister Imran launched the Spring Tree Plantation Campaign 2021 as he vowed that his government would make a “green Pakistan” by planting 10 billion trees.
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2020-21, the target of planting around 350 million trees and 814.6m plants across the country under the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme (TBTTP) had been achieved.
The success of the Billion Trees Afforestation Project (BTAP) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa encouraged the government to launch the TBTTP across the country at a cost of Rs125.1bn.
The programme was launched for the revival of forest and wildlife resources in Pakistan and intended to improve the overall conservation of existing protected areas besides promoting eco-tourism, community engagement and create jobs.
The government is confident that the target to plant one billion trees will be achieved by June 2021. The prime minister said that the government is making efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change through aggressive plantation campaigns.
The prime minister said Pakistan is unfortunately among ten countries that have been worst affected by climate change. PM Imran Khan said that plantation is essential for the next generations and the role of youth is also very important for achieving the goal of ten billion trees plantation campaign.
