ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid Thursday underlined the need for achieving the targets set for tree plantations during the monsoon season across the country.
“Efforts should be made for successful execution of the Monsoon Plantation Campaign 2017 by achieving the set targets,” he said while chairing a meeting of an inter-provincial and inter-ministerial Monsoon Plantation Campaign-2017 in Islamabad.
The Minister asked the participants to give innovative ideas for increasing the country forest cover by maximum plantation of saplings.
The meeting was informed that the Punjab Forest Department has fixed the target of 12 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Department 70 million, the Balochistan Forest Department 7 million and the AJK Forest Department 3.7 million under the Monsoon Plantation Campaign-2017.
The meeting, attended by representatives of CDA, provincial forest departments and officials of ministry of Climate Change, decided that National Level Monsoon Plantation Campaign-2017 be launched in last week of July 2017.
The meeting reviewed the targets achieved during the spring plantation drive-2017.
A target of planting 257.50 million saplings was set, out of which 200.83 million saplings were planted.
The Punjab Forest Department planted 14.33 million plants against the target 14 million with remarkable 102 percent survival rate.
While the Sindh Forest Department planted 15.89 million saplings against the target of 14 million and achieved 70 percent survival rate.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa planted 158.78 million saplings against the target of 211.60 million and achieved 85 percent survival rate.
The Balochistan Forest Department had set the target of 1.50 million saplings planting 1.31 million saplings with 85 percent survival rate.
The AJK Forest Department planted 4.43 million trees against the set target of seven million and achieved 70 percent survival rate.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Forest Department planted 0.71 million saplings against the target of 1.20 million.
Whereas the Forest Department of FATA planted 3.99 million saplings against the target of 4.10 million with 85 percent survival rate.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) planted 0.51 million saplings against the target of two million.
