Over 16 million trees planted under GPP in Sindh

HYDERABAD: The forest experts at a seminar held here on Friday underscored the need of creating awareness among the people about the significance of trees for environment.

Programme coordinator Riaz Ahmed Wagan, speaking at the event organized by The Green Pakistan Program (GPP), highlighted the challenges including less and erratic rainfall, severe water shortage which have necessitated improvised techniques to save plantation exercises from failure.

He observed that there was a shortage of forests in the country including in the rural areas while the situation in urban areas was much worse.

Wagan, who is also chief conservator of Sindh forest department mangroves and range land Karachi, said the GPP was launched on directives of the prime minister in April 2017 and it would complete in 2021 while it had achieved 80 percent target of tree plantation in the province so far.

He informed that a budget of Rs.3.5 billion had been set aside for planting 100 million trees including 20 million in Sindh for which Rs.800 million had been earmarked.

Wagan told that the GPP had been given the targets including roadside and canal side plantation, irrigated plantation, mangroves and range land. "We have as yet completed 80 percent of the target in different components by planting 16 million trees in Sindh,” he added.

He told that the remaining 4 million trees would be planted by next year and added the forest department had the capacity to carry out the plantation, adding that the plantation would be completed in 3 years while the remaining 2 years would be spent on the maintenance and look after.

“We want to increase the program's budget for Sindh to Rs.5 billion for next 5 years. And for this purpose, we are trying to get funding from the federal government or the World Bank and Asian Development Bank,” he disclosed.

He supported the interventions like mangrove ecosystem improvement in the Indus delta, establishment of new mangrove blocks over 125,000 acres of blank mudflats and degraded lands in the Indus delta. The protection and restocking of the old mangroves at 200,000 acres with the support of the community watch, oil palm production in coastal belt and enhancing range land productivity on sustained basis for economic and livelihood benefits, were among some of its other propositions.

The Sub-divisional forest officer, social forestry division Tando Allahyar Rizwan Memon in his presentation dwelt at length over the challenges and achievements in the exercise of planting trees along the roadside and canal-side under GPP in Mirpurkhas and Tando Allahyar districts.

The Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) social forestry division Shaheed Benazirabad Usama Anwar suggested establishment of a unit for the social mobilization in the forest department.

He stated that the projects of tree plantation could be made successful with the community's help.       Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Shaheed Benazirabad Gul Junejo gave a presentation on challenges and achievements regarding setting up the block plantations and bedded nursery of Shisham tree.

The DFO coastal forest division Sujawal Arif ali Khokhar spoke about rehabilitation of mangroves in Indus delta. The forest officials Gul Hassan Daudpota, Zulfiqar Ali Memon, Abdul Jabbar Qazi and Saeed Ahmed also spoke, among others.