Ecosystem restoration fund: Govt wants to implement national action plan to combat desertification

ISLAMABAD: The government is serious in implementing a national action plan to combat desertification, land degradation, and droughts through an ecosystem restoration fund.

Talking to media here on Saturday, experts said Pakistan is grappled with growing threat of expanding desertification for the last many years, which has exacerbated the country's food insecurity, poverty, hunger levels, and biodiversity loss.

Among others, Khan Faraz, an expert from Hayatabad Peshawar informed journalists that the country is predominantly dry with about 80 percent of areas falling in semi-arid and arid regions. About 68 percent of the geographical areas lie under annual rainfall of average 250mm, whereas, about 24 percent of the geographical areas lie under annual rainfall measuring between 250-500mm.

Aridity-hit areas in southern parts of the country are in grip of extreme poverty, which presumably is the result of resource constraints and inadequate opportunities for environmentally-resilient sustaining life - livelihoods such as agriculture.

About 58 percent of the country's population lives in dry land areas suffering from inadequate or declining rains. He pointed out that if countries can restore the nearly 800 million hectares of degraded land they have pledged to restore by 2030, we can safeguard humanity and our planet from the looming danger.

Also, the green initiative of the country aims to support in achieving the voluntary land degradation neutrality targets by 2030 and also implementation of national action plan to combat desertification.

He added that the government is establishing an ecosystem restoration fund to support activities related to curbing desertification, land degradation and droughts, as the flagship initiative has hit the ground ruining.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021