ISLAMABAD: All provincial governments, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir as well as and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have been asked to hammer out respective plans and submit them to the federal government along with financial requirement for implementation of the prime minister’s five-year flagship ‘Green Pakistan Programme’ (GPP) across the country.
“As part of the implementation of Green Pakistan Programme, we have written formal letters to the concerned authorities of provincial, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and FATA governments to roll out detailed project plans that should include areas identified for plantation of trees and programmes for protection and conservation of wildlife species. They have also been asked to submit their financial requirements for implementation of forest plans in their respective areas,” said Ministry of Climate Change Inspector General (Forest) Syed Mahmood Nasir during a media briefing on Tuesday.
He said that the marathon programme, which aims to reinvigorate ailing forestry sector in the country and protect the wildlife animals and plants from extinction, had been envisioned by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to tackle deforestation and negative impacts of climate change through forests.
Nasir said under the Green Pakistan Programme, over 100 million trees would be planted across the country at a cost of Rs 10 billion during next five years (2016-2016), for which the prime minister has initially allocated Rs 2 billion for first two years (2016-17 and 2017-18).
Developed in extensive and intensive consultation with all provincial governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, the programme has been chiseled in line with relevant component on the environment and climate change of Vision 2025 and 11th Five Year Development Plan (2013-18) approved by the Planning Commission, he added. The senior official hoped that the international 2030 UN Development Agenda, known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), would pave way for environmentally sound solutions with forest conservation and protection being at the top of the agenda. He informed the media that under SDGs, each country was responsibility to protect, enhance and sustain the management of its forest areas by 2030.
Highlighting the unprecedented value of the forests for a climate vulnerable country like Pakistan, Nasir said, “Pakistan is deficient in timber production to meet its need of wood and wood products. Therefore, through this umbrella project, more trees would be planted to increase per unit area productivity besides bridging the gap between supply and demand at national level. The sustained forests and their allied natural resources will help balance the economy of the country.”
He was of the view that the overall improvement of forestry sector in the country was a continuous and long-term process, which needed to be addressed properly at federal, provincial and regional levels through a long-term development programme as well as donor assisted initiatives. He said that Pakistan is among the top forest-deficient countries of the world, having total forest cover of the country of about 5 % of its total land area.
“The rate of deforestation is very high, which is causing serious problems including land degradation, soil erosion, loss of biological diversity, flash floods and various other associated ecological threats. In hilly areas of the country, natural forests are subjected to heavy pressure of human activities of different kinds. In the context of climate change and the impacts of global warming, protection of natural forests has now become a significant policy imperative of any country to ensure its economic growth, environmental stability and long term social security,” he informed media while counting negative effects of deforestation in the country.
Earlier, Climate Change Ministry Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah Gilani briefed the media about Pakistani delegation’s participation in the second meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2) held on May 23-27 in Nairobi, Kenya, which was attended by over 2,500 delegates from nearly 174 countries.
He told the media that negotiations in three drafting groups resulted in the adoption of 25 resolutions during the final plenary, which ran until almost 4am on Saturday, due to disagreement on a draft resolution calling for an environmental assessment of the Gaza Strip. Pakistan had strongly supported the resolution on ‘field based environmental assessment of the Gaza Strip’. However, he added, this resolution was not approved by the plenary due to objection raised by Israel and USA.
Talking about Pakistan’s representation in the international UN-led meeting, Gilani said, “A four-member Pakistani delegation to the UNEA-2 included Pakistan High Commissioner in Nairobi Raza Bashir Tarar, Ministry of Climate Change DIG (Forest) Abdul Munaf Qaimkhani and Pakistan High Commission in Nairobi counsellor Shahbaz M Malik.”
He further informed media that the Pakistani high commissioner was unanimously elected as chair of the Asia Pacific regional group. Tarar, as a head of delegation and regional chair, ably and effectively represented the country and group in UNEA plenary, COW sessions and G-77+China meetings, he added.
Giving further details about the delegation’s participation in UNEA-2, Gilani said that Pakistan’s delegation actively participated in the negotiations of drafting groups on different resolutions, particularly resolutions on promoting effective implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, combating desertification, land degradation and sustainable land management of rangelands, and dust storms.
