ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s mega 10 Billion Tree Tsunami (10BTT) project is cheaper than the global estimates for the cost of massive plantation to confiscate huge amounts of carbon in the world.
This was stated by Adviser to prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam in an exclusive talk with APP, who said that the 10BTT was an overall Rs 125 billion worth project with Rs 34 per plant cost.
He said, additionally, 10BTT was the upscaled version of Billion Tree Tsunami Project successfully implemented in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
It had managed to generate 500,000 green jobs which helped uplift the economic status of poor masses particularly women as most of the widows in KP got benefitted through it.
“The women in KP have grown various nurseries under BTT project and they really deserve appreciation for this as it was a very difficult task for them to manage in their capacity despite resources provided by the Forest Department ,” he added.
10BTT, Amin said had been launched on the basis of lessons learnt from BTT implemented in KP.
The programme had incorporated all stakeholders including academia, intellectuals, youth, armed forces, corporate sector and all other social cohorts, he noted. According to KP, Chief Conservator of Forests, Central Southern Forest Region-I, Niaz Ali Khan over 64 per cent of barren land of the country was untapped for plantation as no agriculture had been cultivated on it which includes 60 per cent wasteland, 2 per cent waterlogged and 2 per cent saline land.
“Dera Ismail Khan alone has the potential of a billion tree afforestation other than the existing plantations carried out under BTT which will help to rejuvenate ecology, environ and develop healthy job opportunities for the local communities,” Khan added.
The study conducted by various scientists in the leadership of Prof Tom Crowther at the Swiss university ETH Zürich had revealed that massive plantation of 1 trillion trees carried out across the globe would help reduce two thirds of the emissions released due to anthropogenic activities perpetrated on the planet.
However, at present plants had been considered as the most cheap and effective source to deal with the gruesome impacts of climate change. Crowther in his research said, “The most effective projects are doing restoration for 30 US cents (approximately PKR50) a tree.
That means we could restore the 1trillion trees for $300bn [£240bn], though obviously that means immense efficiency and effectiveness.
But it is by far the cheapest solution that has ever been proposed.”
He said financial incentives to land owners for tree planting were the only way he saw it happening, but he thought $300bn would be within reach of a coalition of billionaire philanthropists and the public.
The report analysis found that almost 1.7 billion hectares land was lying barren or without tree cover where any plantation campaign would activate 1.2 trillion native tree seedlings to grow as a part of natural revival of forest cover.
It had discovered other interesting facts that claim the area comprised of a total 11 per cent of all land equal to the combined size of United States of America and China.
This around the globe vegetation revival would enable the tropical areas to have 100 per cent tree cover where the remaining would be less densely covered, hence on average about half the area would be under tree canopy.
The scientists partaking in the research had exclusively avoided all agricultural fields being utilized for crops and urban areas in their analysis.
They had included grazing land which the researchers believed would benefit sheep and cattle with a few trees.
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