The Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan announced that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will officially initiate the tree plantation project as part of the monsoon drive campaign in Lasbela today. Prime Minister Khan will visit Lasbela’s Sonmiani beach for the inauguration of the plantation drive and join the forestation campaign along the coastline.
Pakistan is the 7th most affected country in the world when it comes to the drastic impacts of climate change. Efforts to rehabilitate the Mangroves on the Indus delta and to create urban forests have been a key goal for the current government.
In a research study conducted in 2019, it was concluded that Lasbela was severely on the warning list, suffering from a food crisis, water scarcity, and diminishing agrarian growth. The study explained that Climate change ultimately creates a vicious circle of poverty.
Read more: PM Khan’s fight against climate change gathers praise
The data explained that nearly 77 percent of males and 33 percent of females were unemployed, while the prevalence of diseases like cholera, eczema, arthritis, chronic fever, and other severe coronary diseases was on the rise. These issues were heightened due to climate change risks.
To mitigate the issues stemming from the climate crisis, namely deforestation in the area, the mangrove rehabilitation drive was initiated. In 2020, Sindh Forests Chief Riaz Wagan shared “ this (mangroves) has expanded significantly to 220,000 hectares along the area extending from Korangi Creek to Kajar Creek.”
PM @ImranKhanPTI is going to kick off #Plant4Pakistan21 campaign in Lasbela today.
Pakistan is the only country where mangroves are expanding rapidly. New sites in Sindh & Balochistan will add 12000 Acres more to mangroves cover.#10billiontreetsunami pic.twitter.com/2SvVtIQNDN— Ministry of Climate Change, Govt of Pakistan (@ClimateChangePK) August 10, 2021
The plantation of 10,000 more saplings had already begun in May 2021 and will continue till October this year. The tree plantation campaign in Lasbela is an attempt to fasten the pace of mitigating the climate problems of the area.
Pakistan is going to set a new world record, by planting 50,000 trees per minute.#10BillionTreeTsunami #CleanGreenPakistan #CleanGreenPunjab pic.twitter.com/S2w8muKzBu
— Sheikha (@sheikhawithKhan) August 9, 2021
Just yesterday PM Khan had inaugurated the world’s biggest Miyawaki urban forest catering to over 160,000 trees. The project was labeled as the ‘lungs of Lahore’. The PM addressed the ceremony and said, “What we have now done is the beginning. Miyawaki is the world’s biggest forest and we dedicate it to Miyawaki, the professor of Japan who died last month.”
Read more: Recreating ‘Native Forests’ using the Miyawaki Forest
He also shared that “In Pakistan’s 70-year history, only 64 crore trees were planted by the government. From 2013 to 2018, we’ve grown a billion trees and now we are targeting to grow 10 billion trees,” and emphasized that the nation must come together to protect the future of the upcoming generations.
World's largest Miyawaki forest in Lahore, with a target of 160,000 plants spreading over 100 kanal.#Plant4Pakistan21 #10billiontreetsunami pic.twitter.com/bLVU1gCmRc
— Ministry of Climate Change, Govt of Pakistan (@ClimateChangePK) August 10, 2021